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SIGHTS AND SCENES 



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IX 



zux&ft: 



A SERIES OF LETTERS 



* . ' * « 

ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND ITALY, 



IN 1350. 



BY MRS. A. T. J. BULLARD 



ST.. LOUIS, MO.: 
CHAMBERS k KNAPP, PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 

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TO THE LADIES 

OF THE 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ST. LOUIS , MO. 

THIS VOLUME IS 
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The following- letters appeared in the Missouri Republi- 
can, St. Louis, Mo. At the earnest request of many 
friends, the writer has been persuaded to issue them in a 
more permanent form. If they afford amusement and in- 
formation to the reader, especially to the young, and serve 
in any measure as a guide and directory to other travelers, 
who may follow in her footsteps abroad, the highest wish 
and fondest hope of the author, will be realized. 

A. T. J. B. 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER NO. I. 
Journey from St. Louis to Buffalo, Page 13 



T">? 



TTER NO. H. 

Niagara Falls — Annoyance of porters and runners at Albany — Journey to 
New York and Boston, 21 

LETTER NO. HI. 
Voyage from New York to Liverpool — Company — Amusements — Storm — 
Ships and vessels in the river Mersey — Custom House Officers, 30 

LETTER NO. IV. 
Morley's Hotel, London — Thames Tunnel — Tower- — Queen's Regalia — Par- 
liament House — Parliament prorogued by the Queen 37 

LETTER NO. V. 
Delegates to the Peaee Congress at Frankfori>on-the-Maine leave London 
by Dover and Calais — Railroad to Cologne — Ghent — Liege — Aix la 
Chapelle — the Rhine— Vineyards— Castles— Cologne — Bonn— Mayence. 47 

LETTER NO. VI. 

Pence Convention — Frankfort — Luther's house — Juden Gasse — Cemetery — 
The Currency 53 

LETTER NO. VII. 

Darmstadt — Heidelberg — The famous tuns in the wine cellar of the 
Castle- — University of Heidelberg — Carlsruhe — Baden — -Prisons — 
- Basel — Tomb of Erasmus — Berne — the Bernese Alps, 57 

LETTER NO. VIII. 

t 

The Diligence — Vevay — View of Mt. Blanc? — Lausanne — Coppet— Ferney 
— Geneva — John Calvin's house — Calvin's church — Dr. Malan — Vises 
■r^-Ride to Chainou>iy*-Beggars~ The goitre, ,,, ,,. 62 



Till CONTENTS. 

LETTER NO. IX. 

Ride in a "char a banc" — Romantic scenery — The ascent of La Flegere 
and view of Mt. Blanc—Ascent of Montagne Vert — The Mer de 
Glace, 67 

LETTER NO. X. 

Ride over the Tete Noire to Martigny — Ride to Brieg— Simplon Pass — 
Gorge of Gondo — the Hospice — Domo d'Ossola — Lago Maggiore — 
Scene of the battle of Ticinus — Arch of Peace, 72 

LETTER NO. XL 

Milan — Cathedral — Paintings and Statuary — Amphitheatre — Verona— 
Amphitheatre — Cemetery — Venice— Gondolas—Making wine — Marble 
Palaces — Church of San Marco — Doge's Palace — The Pozzi — Bridge 
of Sighs — Titian's and Canova's tombs — Paintings in the Accade- 
mia delle Belle Arte — Armenian Convent — Fleas, 79 

LETTER NO. XII. 

Passports — Robbers — Ferrara — Trouble about passports — Bologna — The 
Appennines — Pistoia — Florence — Cathedral — Michael Angelo's tomb 
— Medicean Chapel — The Gallerie Imperiale — Palazza Pitti — Boboli 
Gardens — Anatomical Museum,..., 87 

LETTER NO. XHI. 

Mosaics — Cafes — Flower-girls — "Sunny Italy" — Italian Ladies — Railroad 
to Leghorn — Pisa. — Leaning Tower — Campo Santo — Leghorn — Voyage 
to Civita Vecchia — Attempt to rob — Baggage searched, 94 

LETTER NO. XIV. 

Rome — Canonization of a Saint — The Pope and his Cardinals — The Capitol 
— Seven Hills — Forums and arches — Palace of the Cassars — Coliseum — . 
St. Peter's Church— Relics, 100 

LETTER NO. XV. 

Consecration of Cardinal Wiseman and others — Sistini Chapel — Paintings— 
The Vatican — The Seven Basilicae — St. John Lateran — The Pieta, by 
Bernini — Scala Santa. — Relics, , , 108 

LETTER NO. XVI. 

St. Peter's Church — Bronze image of St. Peter — The graves of St. Peter 
and St. Paul — Priests— Ceremonies — The Dome— View of the City,... lift 



CONTENTS. IX 

LETTER NO. XVII. 

Santa Maria Maggiore — Santa Croce in Gerusalemme — San Paolo Fuori le 
Mure — Pillars of Egyptian alabaster sent by the Pacha of Egypt to 
the Pope — San Lorenzo — San Sebastiano — Capuchin Cemetery — Baths 
— Columbaria — Tombs — Mausoleums — The Pantheon — Tarpeian 
Rock — Cloaca Maxima, — Aqueducts, 124 

LETTER NO. XVTIL 

The Vatican— Paintings and Statues — The Capitol — Dying Gladiator—* 
Pliny's Doves — Private Palaces — American Chaplain — Toleration — 
Artists, , 133 

LETTER NO. XIX. 

Quarantine— Journey to Naples by land — Vises — Appian Way — Tombs of 
Ascanius and of Pompey the Great — The Pope's Summer Palace — 
Albano — Genzano — Velletri — Cisterna — " Three Taverns, ' ' where 
Paul stopped on his journey to Rome — Pontine Marshes — Terraeina — 
Fondi—Itri— Olives— Mola di Gaeta— The Vintage, 141 

LETTER NO. XX. 

Capua — Sessa — Ruins — Primitive Plough — Vineyards — Naples — Driver 
arrested on entering Naples — Excursion to Mt. Vesuvius — Resina — 
Portici — The Hermit — Cone de Gantrey — Climbing up the Mountain — 
View of the Sea and its Islands — The Crater — Coming down the 
Mountain, , 149 

LETTER NO. XXI. 

Pompeii and Herculaneum — The ruins — Bake-shop— Sallust's house— Mo- 
saic floors — Musical Academy — Temple of Isis — Bathing Establish- 
ment — House of Marcus Arrius Diomede — Cemetery of Pompeii, 158 

LETTER NO. XXII. 

Naples — Its bay and chateaux — Ferdinand Second, King of Naples — The 
Army — Churches and public buildings — Interesting excursions about 
Naples — Steamer Lombardy — Attempt to rob — Quarantine regula- 
tions — Civita Vecchia — Its prisons — The brigand Gasperonia — The 
morality of Italy — Charitable Institutions — Foundling Hospitals, , 165 

LETTER NO. XXHI. 

Trip up the Mediterranean — Genoa — Its palaces — Its exports — Dress of the 
Ladies — Galley Slaves — The Cathedral — The reputed grave of John 



X CONTENTS. 

the Baptist — The Church of L'Annunziata — Novi — Marengo battle- 
field — Alessandria — Turin — Washing by the river side — Vittorio 
Emanuele, King of Piedmont— His palace — Charles Albert, late King, 173 

i 

LETTER NO. XXIV. 

Armeria Eoyale— Trouble with the Pope — Pietro di Santa Rosa — Church 
of the Waldenses — Pane grissino — Journey over Mt. Cenis — Monas- 
teries — Susa — A terrible snow storm on the Mountain — Refuges — 
Sledges — Lanslebourg, 181 

LETTER NO. XXV. 

Chamberri — Lyons — Deception practiced at hotels — Sail up the Rhone, 
from Lyons to Dijon — Entrance into Paris by railroad — The Tuilleries 
Meurice's Hotel— St. Roch— All Saints' Day— All Souls' Day— Pere 
la Chaise — Houses in Paris — Water-carrriers, 189 

LETTER NO. XXVI. 
The Louvre — National Museum — Sevres' Porcelain Manufactory — Ver- 
sailles, 166 

LETTER NO. XXVII. 

Sight-seeing — La Fayette's grave — The Pantheon —Its vaults and tombs — ■ 
Hotel des Invalides — Napoleon's tomb — Manufactory of Gobelin Ta- 
pestry — Cafes and Restaurateurs — Catacombs, 202 

LETTER NO. XXVIII. 

Palais Bourbon — Chamber of Deputies — St. Madeleine's Church — Number 
of the priesthood — Need of a Presbyterian Church for Americans — 
Charitable Institutions in Paris — Shopping — Receiving calls — Jardin 
des Plantes— Chapel of St. Ferdinand, 209 

LETTER NO. XXIX. 

Crossing the English Channel from Boulogne to Folkestone — Keeping house 
in London — Dining out — St. James' Palace — Madame Tussaud's Wax 
Gallery, 217 

LETTER NO. XXX. 

St. Paul's Cathedral — Westminster Abbey — Rev. James Hamilton's Church 
Rev. Dr. Cunimings — Surrey Chapel, 223 

LETTER NO. XXXI. 

Hyde Park — Regents' Park — Zoological Garden — British Museum — Ver- 
non Gallery — National Gallery of Paintings, 23fi 



CONTENTS. XI 

LETTER NO. XXXII. 

Manchester — Print Works — Silk Mill — Derby — Porcelain Works — Arbore- 
tum — Matlock Bath — Mines — Petrifying Wells — Birmingham — Ho- 
tels—Papier Mache Establishment ofWennens & Bettredge — Stratford 
on Avon — Shakspeare's birth-place — Shakspeare's grave — Leaming- 
ton— Kenilworth Castle, 238 



LETTER NO. XXXni. 
Sheffield— Rogers & Sons' Cutlery Establishment—Haddon Hall— Chats- 
worth — Kitchen Gardens — Conservatory — Fountains — Chapel — Sculp- 
ture and Paintings — Herds of Deer,.,., , * 246 




SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. I. 

Boston, June 29, 1850. 

To one who has traversed our western rivers in " auld 
lang syne," the change which has been wrought in the 
facility and mode of transportation is marvelous. A pas- 
senger in the steamer "Fashion," at the present day, can 
scarcely comprehend the weariness and discomfort of the 
traveler, who descended the Mississippi in 1817 in a flat- 
boat, or even the small, incommodious steamers of a later 
date. Nor can the student of the geographies of our 
country in early times fail to be amused, as he compares 
the hopes and prospects of the sanguine men of those days, 
with the daily realization of travelers now. Morse, in his 
" Universal Geography," published in Boston, 1812, says, 
vol. 1, page 437: "It is found, by late experiments, that 
sails are used to great advantage against the current of the 
Ohio, and it is worthy of observation, that steamboats are 
found to do great service in all our extensive river navigation." 
The " great service" hoped from them, is explained on page 
595, where he gives his ideas of our western commerce. 
" The difficulty of ascending the Mississippi has, in a great 
measure, cut off New Orleans from supplying the western 

States with foreign merchandize. Hitherto, it has been 
2 



14 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

found cheaper to purchase articles in New York and Phila- 
delphia and carry them by land to Pittsburgh, at the forks 
of the Ohio, and thence down that river to the various towns 
on its banks, than to transport them up the Mississippi and 
the Ohio. The experiment of the steamboat is trying in the 
western waters. If boats of that description, sufficiently 
strong to resist the sawyers, planters, sleeping- sawyers and 
wooden islands, which abound in the Mississippi, can be 
made to ascend it with loads of merchandize, at the rate of 
three or four miles an hour, and to travel safely by night as 
well as by day, New Orleans may bid defiance to the efforts 
of Montreal, New York and Philadelphia to engross the 
foreign trade of the whole western country. Should the 
experiment fail, most of the commerce she would obtain and 
enjoy will probably be divided between these three cities, 
and it will fall, of course, chiefly to the one which can 
supply foreign goods at the lowest prices." He says, also : 
" The canal of three hundred miles in length, on an inclined 
plane, proposed to be opened between Lake Erie and the 
Hudson, in order to divert the trade of the western country 
from Montreal to New York, has heretofore been men- 
tioned. There appears little probability that this grand 
project can be carried into execution; at least, before the 
commercial connection and intercourse between the Ohio 
and the St. Lawrence have become so seltled that it will be 
difficult to shake them." What would this good man think, 
could he open his eyes upon our telegraphic operations, our 
railroads, and our mammoth steamers ? 

We left St. Louis, June 17th, at 5 o'clock, the time 
announced for the boat's departure. A blessed period have 
we lived to see, when steamboat Captains keep their engage- 
ments, and boats are "off" at the hour. Formerly, the 
poor, helpless traveler with his baggage and body on board, 
and his temper at " boiling point," must wait, perhaps a 



LETTEK NO. I. 15 

day or two after the public announcement of the time of 
departure, afraid to go on shore lest he should be left, and 
feeling himself to be a sort of amphibious animal, with no 
privileges on land or water. The " Fashion" is truly a fine 
boat, with large cabins, commodious state-rooms, sofas, otto- 
mans and rocking-chairs in abundance ; in short, with every 
convenience, comfort and luxury — and last and not least, 
with an obliging chambermaid. This last appendage is 
more necessary to the comfort of passengers than is often 
supposed. 

A disobliging chambermaid will do much to render a boat 
unpopular. I remember, once in particular, a snappish 
chambermaid, a colored woman, destroyed the comfort of 
the ladies' cabin completely, notwithstanding the efforts of 
the gentlemanly officers of the boat to make every thing- 
pleasant. 

In those days, one wash-bowl, one towel, one comb and 
brush, were deemed sufficient to accommodate the whole 
cabin. A tumbler of water, a candle, wash-bowl, or towel, 
was a superfluity in any state-room, which the chambermaid 
positively refused. Every favor was resolutely denied. She 
seemed to feel her province was to rule, and the passengers' 
duty was to submit. She made herself exceedingly odious, 
till a little incident occurred, which turned the tide of feeling 
in another direction, and, in our mirth, we forgot our annoy- 
ances. There was but one rocking-chair in the cabin, and 
that belonged to an invalid. When not occupied by the 
owner, it found many friends among the ladies. The cham- 
bermaid felt it her duty to set matters right in regard to this 
chair. She requested the ladies not to use it any more, as 
it did not belong to the boat, but was owned by a sick lady 
on board, " who had a spine in her back" We all laughed 
at the unfortunate lot of this woman, in the chambermaid's 
imagination. 



16 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

We had one hundred and ten passengers, many of whom 
were the residents of St. Louis — a very agreeable company. 
As this is a passenger boat, and not heavily laden with 
freight, she makes speedy trips. The "Fashion" is deser- 
vedly one of the most popular boats on the western waters. 
It has but one fault ; it allows gambling. We reached Cairo 
Tuesday morning, early, and Louisville, or rather the port 
below it at the canal, Thursday morn. A messenger was 
dispatched to engage state-rooms for the St. Louis company, 
but a crowd from the southern boats had monopolized every 
state-room but one in the ladies' cabin, and the best rooms 
in the other. We found ourselves very uncomfortably ac- 
commodated in consequence ; but as it is the part of wisdom 
when one is in trouble, from which he cannot extricate 
himself, to sit down contentedly as possible, I resolved not 
only to enjoy my own sorrows, but to look about and amuse 
myself with other people's misfortunes. And this is by far 
a more interesting employment than one would imagine. 
As my position was nearly the centre of the gentlemen's 
cabin, I had a fine opportunity to observe. It seemed as if 
" every tribe, people, nation and kindred under heaven" was 
represented in the moving throng that rushed upon the Tele- 
graph No. 2, the mail boat from Louisville to Cincinnati. 
It was quite amusing to notice with what eagerness each 
passenger sought out the number of his state-room, and 
peeped into his " Pandora's box," and then to listen to his 
exclamations of dissatisfaction, and see the grimaces and 
wry faces displayed at his lot. The ladies and servants 
were hunting up the bewildered children, gathering them 
like chickens, and putting each brood into its new nest. 
The servants were a curiosity in themselves — of all colors, 
from milk and molasses up to the darkest Egyptian marble — 
and the negr esses from the South, moving about with stee- 
ples and topknots of the most fantastic shapes and colors 



LETTER NO, I. 17 

imaginable. Not the least of my amusement was to see 
how many tumbled over the spittoons, which were arranged 
throughout the cabin evidently for the purpose of entrap- 
ping the unwary; they were of no use whatever otherwise, 
as every body spit upon the carpet. In the bustle and hur- 
ry and confusion of leaving shore, and being settled down 
in our new circumstances, it seemed as if the world either 
had come to an end, or was on the eve of dissolution, we 
could scarcely determine which. 

After awhile the confusion abated, and a new operation 
commenced. A table was spread with napkins, and two 
mulattoes employed themselves in preparing them for din- 
ner, and I became initiated in the mystery of folding doy- 
lies into the most fantastic shapes ; this is quite an art. But 
the process of getting up a dinner for three hundred people, 
and clearing it away, which occupied three hours, quite ab- 
sorbed my attention. This was the most elaborate perform- 
ance of the kind I ever witnessed. The automaton-like 
movements of the waiters, as they walked up and down with 
measured step in single file, with the clatter of dishes, 
knives and forks, and the tinkling of spoons, and finally 
their regular and simultaneous movements in placing dinner 
upon the table, brought back vividly to my mind the evolu- 
tions of our old-fashioned militia — "Make ready — take aim 
— fire ! " — and down came the dishes and off went the cov- 
ers with such magical power, I almost feared an " open 
sesame" would come next, to wind up the scene, and we 
find ourselves in some fairy land involved in one general 
catastrophe. 

I was pleased to see, in the cabin, framed printed notices 
to this effect: "Gambling for money prohibited on this 
boat." I expressed my pleasure to a gentleman present, 
who replied: "There is as much gambling on this boat as 
on others, but it is managed in an evasive way. A pile of 



18 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

coffee kernels, or something else, is substituted for money. 
Each kernel is counted for a dime or a dollar, as the parties 
may agree, and when the result of the game is known, mat- 
ters are settled in the state-rooms." He told me many a 
young man was duped and fleeced by the professed gam- 
blers who abound on our western rivers. The gambler 
selects his victim at an early stage of his journey, and b^ 
special attention, perhaps, if he is a young, inexperienced 
traveler, wins his confidence; when time passes wearily, 
he proposes to play a game of cards for amusement. This he 
consents to do, and is allowed at first to win. After a while 
the gambler declares the game insipid, and proposes to play 
for a drink. The young man often demurs, but finally, lest 
he should be thought mean, consents ; and when he becomes 
excited with liquor, he is easily led on to other games, and 
soon begins to lose. He often loses all his money, and is 
fairly started on the highway to ruin before his trip is over. 

We came to a little town on the river where we stopped 
to take on an old lady as a passenger. A stranger near me 
inquired of the porter the name of the place. He replied, 
waggishly, it was "Bethlehem of Judea." " And is that," 
retorted the passenger, pointing to the old lady who had just 
come on board, "the star of Bethlehem?" 

We had one case of cholera on board while our boat lay 
at Louisville. A young man who came from St, Louis was 
seized very violently as soon as he came on to the " Tele- 
graph." He had been unwell previously, and walking about 
the city in the hot sun developed the disease. Dr. M., of 
St. Louis, and some friends of the gentleman, came to his 
aid, and carried him off the boat to a place where he could 
receive every attention. 

The weather was excessively warm all the way to Cin- 
cinnati, and being huddled together in such numbers, and 
occupying state-rooms so uncomfortable that we could scarce- 



LETTER NO. I. 19 

jy breathe the fresh air, we were very glad when we arrived 
at Cincinnati, at half past 6 on Friday morning, the 21st. 
We breakfasted at the Burnett House. This is a magnifi- 
cent hotel, inside and out. Everything is arranged in 
princely style. Princes and nabobs only can afford to pa- 
tronize it. Many of our company breakfasted and dined 
nere. Their bill was two dollars each. At half past 2 
o'clock, we took the cars to Sandusky. Sixty passengers 
went from the Burnett House alone. We rode all night, 
and found it wearisome enough. This railroad is certainly 
an improvement on the old-fashioned "tym'Z "-roads or "cor- 
duroys " of twenty years ago that abounded in Indiana and 
Illinois, but surely can claim to be nothing more than a cari- 
cature of an Eastern railroad. The seats for night passen- 
gers are very uncomfortable. There is a place to rest your 
head, such as you find in a daguerreotype chair, and I felt 
as if I had been sitting for my daguerreotype all night. We 
passed a very pleasant Sabbath at Buffalo, at the " Phelps 
House." This hotel is kept by Rogers, formerly of the 
" Delavan House," Albany. Travelers who wish every com- 
fort and attention at reasonable prices, I would recommend 
to this hotel. We heard Dr. Thompson preach. His theme 
was the recent disaster on the Lake, and a most excellent 
discourse it was. We passed the wreck of the ill-fated 
"Griffith" on our way from Sandusky to Buffalo. The 
chimneys and one of the wheels were above the water. 
This was truly a most deplorable disaster, and is rendered 
more melancholy from the fact that it happened so near the 
shore, and in sight of so many homes. As I stood gazing 
at the wreck, I discovered a young woman near me who 
seemed deeply affected. She was sister of the pilot who 
was lost on that boat. She said her brother was one of the 
most expert swimmers on the Lake. He had often told his 
wife she need not fear that he would ever be droivned, 



20 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

"for," said he, "it 1 the boat was on fire even, I could swim 
ten miles." He was the first to discover the smoke, and 
directed the engineer's attention to it. Finding it on fire, 
the engineer returned to him and told him "to stick to the 
wheel to the last." This he promised to do; and when com- 
pletely enveloped in smoke and flame, and he found he 
could be of no farther use, he stripped off his coat and jumped 
overboard. But he was seized upon by the struggling mass 
and was drowned. He was the individual drawn up by the 
grappling-hooks with eight bodies attached to him. So little 
do we know the manner of our death! And so little, by 
any foresight or precaution of our own, can we prevent 
death's approach in his own way. 

As our route from Buffalo to Albany by Niagara Falls 
and Lake Ontario to Oswego, taking the cars at that place" 
to Syracuse and on, would be less fatiguing, less mono- 
tonous, and part of it novel and cheaper than the other, 
giving us four hours' time at the Falls, we took the cars to 
Lewiston. We found this a pleasant route, giving us a good 
night's rest on the splendid steamer Cataract to Oswego. 

You will hear from me again at New York. 



LETTER NO. II. 

New York, July 8, 1850. 

We found Niagara thronged with visitors. It was a 
splendid day, and we saw the "Falls" in their greatest 
beauty. But no human pen can justly describe this wonder 
of God's wonderful works. The eye alone can give a true 
impression of their magnificence. Three or four days will 
scarcely suffice a traveler to take a glimpse of all the inter- 
esting features of this place. You must go down the stairs 
to the foot of the American Fall, to have an idea of the vast 
~~ height from which this cataract pours. There are five hun- 
dred and eighty steps, down and up again. If you choose, 
you can take an almost perpendicular ride, by means of 
pulleys, down the cliff. We wandered about Goat Island, 
which is almost as beautiful a spot as the picture my imagina- 
tion has drawn of the garden of Eden. We saw the very 
spot where Charles Addi'ngton and the little girl went over 
the Falls, last June. She fell in about twenty feet above 
the " Fall." The stone was pointed out to us on which Mr. 
A.'s foot slipped, as he stepped to rescue the child, whom 
his ill-timed joke was about to destroy. We passed over 
the bridge where Mrs. Miller tied her shawl and bonnet, 
last year, to create a supposition of her suicide, and by the 
place where Sam Patch made his two successful leaps from 
a platform, raised on a ladder ninety-six feet above the 
water's edge. The Whirlpool, the Suspension Bridge, the 
Caves, the Battle Grounds in the vicinity of Niagara, Table 
Rock, the Burning Spring, and the Museum and Reposito- 
ries of Indian works and curiosities, are all places of great 

interest, and wile away much time as you gaze and admire 
2 



22 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

and are riveted to these enchanting spots. We found groups 
of squaws engaged at bead-work in the woods, and surroun- 
ded by many samples of their ingenuity and industry, which 
they dispose of to passers-by. I was quite amused at the 
Indian fashion of "tending a baby," and putting a 
"papoose" to sleep. One of the squaws had a very pretty 
infant, which was strapped into a shallow trough by a very 
beautiful piece of bead- work, a quarter of a yard wide — 
only the baby's head could be seen. This trough stood 
upright in the mother's lap, and she see-sawed it from side 
to side, till the baby was fast asleep — a more fatiguing 
process than the old-fashioned way of rocking a cradle. 

We took the steamer Cataract on Lake Ontario ; this is a 
very fine boat. We were about twelve hours from Niagara 
to Oswego. At Oswego, we took the cars to Syracuse, and 
reached Albany at 3 o'clock on Tuesday, 25th June. 

I think, of all places I ever visited, there is none in which 
a traveler is more annoyed, on his arrival, than at Albany. 
Long before we reached the city, steamboat and hotel 
runners poured into the cars. By the time we were fairly 
landed, we were almost compelled to believe "Bedlam had 
broke loose," so like a pack of wolves did they rush upon us. 
While waiting to check our baggage, two of these runners 
besieged us in the most furious manner, determined to 
contest the point to the very last extremity. One was a 
pleader for the steamer Isaac Newton, and the other for the 
Manhattan. The fare in the former to New York was fifty 
cents, their printed card stated, and fifty cents for a berth. 
In the latter, fare twenty-five cents; berth in a state-room 
fifty cents. Both talked and coaxed, and we were compelled 
to hear both sides at once, for, wedged in the crowd, there 
was no way of escape. Finally, "Isaac Newton" said he 
would take us for twelve and a half cents each. "He lies" 
said Manhattan, "and you'll find you are awfully cheated. 



* 



LETTER NO. II. 23 



if you go on that boat." " / don't lie" said Isaac Newton, 
" and to prove it, if you will give me thirty-seven and a half 
cents for your company of three, I will give you three 
tickets on the spot." As the Isaac Newton is one of the 
finest boats on the North River, we concluded to take him 
up; and, with our tickets and baggage, proceeded to the 
steamer. 

But our persecution did not end here. Like Bunyan's 
Poor Pilgrim in the " Valley of the Shadow of Death," we 
were followed by these satyrs and hobgoblins in human 
shape, springing up on every side, and shouting in our ears, 
some one thing and some another, till, like Christian, afraid 
of losing his " Roll," we feared we should lose our earthly 
possessions in the way of baggage, and, perchance, be car- 
ried off " bodyaciously " besides, as a Hoosier would say. 
"Will you go on the Manhattan?" said one man, very 
coaxingly. "No respectable people go on that boat," 
screamed out another. A colored man joined in the chorus, 
and offered to show us to the Isaac Newton. "Don't pay 
any attention to that nigger ! " bellowed out the opposition. 
Sure enough, when we called for our berths on the Isaac 
Newton, we were charged three dollars besides our tickets, 
making three dollars and thirty-seven and a half cents ; and 
on the P*lanhattan, for a very good state-room, fare and all, 
one dollar and seventy-five cents. So we changed to the 
last named boat. This is but a specimen of the outrages 
and imposition that meet you on every side. 

Arrived at New York June 26th; dined at the Rev. H. 
Beecher's, of Brooklyn. His new church, just completed, 
is built on the site occupied by Dr. Cox's old church, 
formerly. It is a very large, unostentatious edifice. The 
front is plain, to a fault, I think, but I admire the interior 
very much. It will seat more than two thousand people, and 
although the aisles are filled with seats, crowds often go 



24 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUBQPE. 

away. A pastor's study and reception room, with a lecture 
and two Bible class rooms, are in the rear of the church 
below, and above there is a Sabbath school room and two 
beautiful parlors, with folding doors, elegantly furnished 
with Brussels carpets, stuffed chairs, handsome sofas, a 
chandelier, &c, at the end of which are a gentlemen's and 
a ladies' dressing room attached. These rooms are for the 
accommodation of the Sewing Circle and the social gather- 
ings of the congregation. They meet alternately every 
other Tuesday. These social parties are found necessary in 
so large a congregation, where the requisite visiting to pro- 
mote the acquaintance desirable between a pastor and his 
people would be impracticable. Mr. Beecher's salary is 
$3,500, and he has lately received a very handsome horse 
and carriage as a gift from his people. 

At 5 o'clock, we took the steamer Empire State to Fall 
River, where we arrived at 5 in the morning, and taking- 
the cars to the " City of Notions," arrived in Boston to 
breakfast. They have an excellent arrangement on the 
Empire State, which it would be well for our western 
steamers to adopt — viz: A little door, about eight inches by 
six, in the top of the pillar or narrow panel between every 
two state-rooms. This door was locked. About dusk, a 
servant came with a torch, and unlocking the little door, 
unclosed a small lamp in a glass box of triangular shape, 
through which the light could shine into each state-room. 
As soon as the lamp was lighted, the little door was locked, 
the servant walking off with the key. In this way, without 
danger to the boat, each state-room was lighted all night, (a 
great accommodation, certainly, to those who have children 
traveling with them,) and a little red curtain was provided 
to shade the light, if necessary. I suppose there was an 
aperture in the top of the box for the smoke of the lamp to 
escape. 



LETTER NO. II. 25 

Br. Webster's case, of course, forms one of the important 
topics of conversation in Boston. There are several rumors 
afloat concerning him, which may or may not be true. One 
is, that an idiot son died some time since, with striking- 
evidences of having been poisoned, and that the Doctor was 
unwilling to have a post mortem examination, &c. As you 
and your readers will hear much in Dr. Webster's case of 
the doings of the Governor and Council, and as the Gover- 
nor's Council is peculiar to Massachusetts, it may be well to 
say, that it stands in relation to the Governor much as the 
Senate does in other States. In Massachusetts, all the 
appointments and official acts of the Governor are by and 
with the advice and consent of the Council. The Council 
not only confirms and vetoes the acts and appointments of 
the Governor, but advises with him concerning them ; in this 
respect, occupying the place of the Cabinet officers and 
Senate of the United States. 

In constructing the government of Massachusetts, there 
was manifested a jealous care to keep each department 
separate and independent. 

Dr. Webster has effectually destroyed all confidence in his 
veracity. His confession has come too late ; and after such 
solemn appeals to the " Searcher of hearts" for the truth of 
his declarations of innocence in killing Dr. Parkman, as we 
find in his first petition to the Governor, April 24th, his 
present statement of the circumstances of his murder will 
have little weight. Then he asserts, in an awfully solemn 
manner, that he "did not kill Dr. Parkman" — "that he is 
a victim of a foul conspiracy or of circumstances." JVow 
he confesses that he then perjured himself, by stating that 
he did kill him and attempted to secrete his body. Now, 
too, he appeals to the same omniscient Being, and affirms 
he tells the truth, when he asserts that he killed Dr. P. by 
one blow with a piece of grape vine, in a fit of passion, 



26 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

induced by great provocation on Dr. P.'s part. And that 
this one blow was so effectual that life was extinguished in 
ten minutes ! 

Surgeons in this part of the country are, I believe, unani- 
mous in the opinion, that life could not thus be taken away 
in so brief a period. They say that death might be effec- 
tually secured by one blow, but that life would not be extin- 
guished in ten minutes, were even the skull broken. 

For the benefit of your traveling readers, Mr. Editor, I 
will give you the expense of the popular route we came from 
St. Louis, to Boston: 

From St. Louis to Louisville $7.00 

" Louisville to Cincinnati 2.50 

" Cincinnati to Buffalo 10.00 

" Buffalo to Oswego 5.00 

" Oswego to Albany 4.25 

" Albany to New York , 75 

" New York to Boston, by Falls river 4.00 

$33.50 

By taking a boat through to Cincinnati from St. Louis, 
SI. 50 might be saved, besides porterage and conveyance 
from the foot of the canal to Louisville. Also, by paying 
railroad fare to Sandusky simply, instead of Buffalo, one or 
two dollars' expense might be avoided, and a better boat 
secured in the opposition line. They had one excellent ar- 
rangement on the cars from Cincinnati to Sandusky; it was 
peculiarly grateful in a hot day. Every hour a man passed 
through the cars with a pail of cold water and a tumbler. 
On some routes it is exceedingly difficult, sometimes, to ob- 
tain water at all, and on others you are obliged to buy it. 

In the Worcester depot, Boston, we found the following 
curious printed notice : 

" Insurance against steamboat and railroad accidents. — 
The Franklin Health Assurance Company of Boston, Mass., 



LETTER NO. II. 27 

especially empowered to insure against accidents ! Capital 
$50,000. President, Hon. Sherman Leland ; Vice Presi- 
dent, Gen. H. A. S. .Dearborn, &c. This Company insures 
travelers at the following rates : 

Terms, 6 hours Premium 6 cents. 

" 12 " " 12 » 

" 24 " « 15 " 

" Persons employed on railroads and steamboats are in- 
sured against accidents at the following rates, viz : 

Engineers, firemen, brakemen, and other operatives, 3 months.... $3. 00 
Conductors, baggage masters, and express men 3 " .... 2.00 

" Conditions of Policy. — Any accident by railroad or 
steamboat resulting in the injury of any passenger holding 
a policy in this company, entitles the party insured to re- 
ceive $200, if detained ten days ; and $400 if any of his 
bones are broken by such accident, or if he shall be so far 
injured as to be incapable of attending to any business for 
the space of two months next succeeding such accident or 
injury." 

The following certificate is from W. E. Richardson, con- 
ductor of the Worcester and Norwich railroad : 

" On the 8th of April last, being a conductor on the Wor- 
cester and Norwich railroad, I purchased of the Agent of 
the Franklin Health Assurance Company, at the depot in 
this city, a policy of insurance against accidents on railroads, 
for which I paid fifteen cents. On the same evening, the 
cars fell through the bridge at Fisherville, and I was so 
much injured that I was detained from my business about 
fifteen days. I presented my claim to the Secretary of the 
Franklin Health Assurance Company, and he promptly paid 
me the sum of two hundred dollars, being the amount gua- 
ranteed to me by the policy I had purchased." 

What will not be insured next ? 

We have spent one Sabbath in New York. Were roused 
at a very early hour by an incessant cry of radishes or vege- 
tables, as on other days, I thought. I found afterwards it 
was the news boys who are employed in selling the Sunday 



28 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

papers. It is really a serious infringement on the quiet of 
the Sabbath and the morality of the people. Heard Dr. 
Stiles in the morning, successor to Dr. Skinner, Mercer 
street. He does not use notes ; but his fluency and earnest- 
ness render him a very interesting speaker. His church is 
one of the most wealthy Presbyterian churches in the city ; 
probably there are more men of influence and wealth con- 
gregated in this church than in any other of this denomina- 
tion. We attended the Church of the Epiphany in the 
afternoon — Rev. Lot Jones, Rector. He is an indefatiga- 
ble student, and a very laborious and successful shepherd. 
From a very small beginning, he has, in a few years, built 
up a large and flourishing church. 

In the evening, we heard the Rev. Henry Beecher, of 
Brooklyn. His church, when lighted in the evening, is 
certainly one of the finest I have seen [anywhere. The 
organ and the choir are in the rear of the pulpit, and the 
gallery, including the orchestra, forms a circle around the 
church. The effect is very line. The house was filled. 
There are four aisles in the body of the church, and a gen- 
tleman stations himself in every aisle, and, with the utmost 
courtesy, seats every stranger. No one is made to feel here 
that he is trespassing on the rights of others, but, on the 
contrary, is most heartily welcomed even to the best seats ; 
quite a contrast to the surly, selfish conduct often witnessed 
in our churches. Mr. Beecher's text was in 1st Pet. 5: 8, 
9; "Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary, the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he 
may devour," &c. It was the best sermon on Satanic agen- 
cy I ever heard. Mr. Beecher has a fine voice, of great 
compass. He is exceedingly graphic and life-like in de- 
scription, and his knowledge of men and things he shows 
up with great effect. 



LETTER NO. II. 29 

We expect to sail for Liverpool to-morrow, July 9th, at 
12 o'clock, m., in the large and elegant packet New World, 
Capt. Knight. The captain is a very gentlemanly man, 
and a member of Mr. Beecher's congregation, Brooklyn. 
He limits his number of cabin passengers to eighteen. 
The following persons have engaged state-rooms : Judge 
Willard and lady, Troy; Rev. Mr. Sayres and lady, (Bap- 
tists,) Brooklyn; Rev. Mr. Chapin, Universalist minister, 
and Mr. B. B. Muzzy, Boston; Mr. Lyman Scott, and 
Rev. A. Bullard, St. Louis. I presume we shall have rare 
discussions on Baptism, Universalism, and Presbyterianism, 
and what other isms we can dish up by the way. We have 
been down to look at our transient home on the deep. Our 
state-room is very comfortable and capacious — twelve feet 
long and eight feet wide — affording a double berth and a 
single one on the same side. As to sea-sickness, the captain 
seems to think it is a sheer piece of nonsense, which no 
rational person will tolerate more than twenty-four hours. 
He recommends a strict diet for two or three days before 
sailing, and promises, if we follow his directions, that we 
shall only have a touch of it at any rate. I am afraid we 
have not as much "spunk" as the captain expects, and that 
we shall not be very successful in resisting the attacks of 
this monster, but you shall have our experience in due time. 



30 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. III. 

Liverpool, July 31, 1850. 

On the 9th of July, at noon, the passengers of the " New 
World" were all assembled on the pier, waiting for a steam- 
er to take them to the ship, which lay anchored at some dis- 
tance from the city. Just as we left, another ship arrived, 
crowded from stem to stern with emigrants ; she looked like 
a white rose covered with bugs. Every man, woman and 
child were straining their eyes for a first view of the land of 
their adoption, while we were taking a last look, perchance, 
of our native country. 

The departure of a ship is a very different thing from 
that of a steamer. The ship was not rigged till just before 
the tow-boats left us at Sandy Hook, so we had a fine op- 
portunity to see the whole process of unfurling the sails, 
and of learning the a-b-c of sea-life. 

The "New World" is a splendid vessel, of fifteen hun- 
dred tons, built about three years since, and is differently 
constructed in many particulars from the sailing packets of 
former times. It has an upper deck, occupying about one- 
third the width of the vessel; affording quite a long prome- 
nade and a fine position for viewing the coast as we sailed 
out of the harbor. 

We were towed by two steamers, one on each side, for 
several miles, when one of them returned, bearing away 
from us many of our friends, who had come down to the 
ship to accompany us a short distance on our way. In the 
course of the afternoon, it was found that four steerage pas- 
sengers had been smuggled on board, and one was actually 
detected in robbing a fellow-passenger. He was driven over 



LETTER NO. III. 31 

the side of the vessel in double quick time with a rope's 
end, and leaped on the steamer which still remained at our 
side. The captain told us that on his last trip from Liver- 
pool to New York, among seven hundred passengers, he 
found that seven had been smuggled on board, but it was 
discovered too late to set them adrift. Sometimes a man is 
headed up in a barrel — he has known a man to be put in a 
sack and filled around with potatoes, and sometimes done 
up in feather beds and other luggage. Whenever he sees 
any suspicious looking bundles on board, he sends a man 
with a long stick that has two or three prongs to it, to stick 
into the luggage, and ascertain if it contains a piece of 
humanity. 

So occupied were we with gazing at the scenery on the 
coast, and scanning the countenances and watching the 
movements of our fellow-passengers, both cabin and steer- 
age, (for all were scattered about the decks on the look-out,) 
and witnessing the movements of the sailors, and listening 
to their songs, that we remained on deck till 10 o'clock at 
night, long after our last tow-boat had disappeared, and till 
the last faint glimpse of the lighthouse on Sandy Hook had 
vanished, and we began to feel that we were at sea, and 
that a long, long time would elapse before our eyes would 
again be blessed with the sweet vision of land. 

Our passengers promised to be extremely pleasant com- 
panions ; our captain was exceedingly affable and commu- 
nicative, our accommodations were comfortable, and in the 
novelty of our situations we found every thing to amuse and 
interest us. So far, I was quite delighted with our prospects. 
I had learned that in all we had two hundred and three 
souls on board. The officers and crew numbered forty-two ; 
there were twenty-seven cabin, twenty second cabin, and 
one hundred and fourteen steerage passengers. There 
were six clergymen, three lawyers, one physician, one sur- 



32 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

geon, five ladies and four children. George Folsom, Esq., 
U. S. Charge d' Affaires at the Court of the Netherlands, 
lady, children and servants ; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 
of Brooklyn; Dr. McFarlane, Superintendent of the New 
Hampshire Insane Asylum, and James Edwards, Esq., 
and lady, of Albany, were among our number. Five of our 
passengers were Delegates to the Peace Congress, at Frank- 
fort, Germany. 

I began to think a ship was a world in itself, and that 
there were pleasures on sea as well as on land, and with 
many pleasant thoughts I fell asleep. But in the morning 
all my bright visions of enjoyment had fled. Almost every 
passenger, as well as myself, was prostrated by sea-sickness 
for two or three days. 

On Saturday, those of us who were able to make our ap- 
pearance on deck, had come unanimously and decidedly to the 
conclusion that we understood more fully the theory of the "in- 
terior life" than we had ever done before. Such a crest-fallen, 
subdued set of mortals it has seldom been my lot to see. 
Some of the gentlemen were stretched on coils of rope, with 
cloaks for their pillows, and their faces upturned to the sky. 
One had cradled himself in one of the boats swung over the 
side of the vessel, where he had made quite a respectable 
nest, with a sail stretched over him as a shelter from the 
sun, and was the envy and admiration of the rest for his 
ingenuity and ability to make himself so comfortable. 
Others were pacing the decks "with measured strides and 
slow," and with a look of resolution and defiance which, in 
other circumstances, would certainly have excited a smile. 
As for the ladies, they were all passive, gentle and silent, 
if not amiable. We had head winds ever after we left New 
York, and had made very little progress, which was no alle- 
viation of our discomfort. Saturday night, while in the 
Gulf stream, it thundered and lightened for several hours. 



LETTER NO. III. 33 

and the thunder boomed over the waters with a sound we 
never heard on land. Suddenly a terrific squall came up, 
and before the sails could be taken in the vessel was thrown 
on her side; three of the sails were carried away and one 
torn into ribbons, and the jib-boom (a beam more than a 
foot in diameter) was snapped in two like a pipe-stem. 
The pitchers and tumblers and chairs and baggage rolled 
about in glorious confusion — a couple of buckets full of 
ocean's brine poured into our window, while a greater quan- 
tity came splashing down the companion-way, deluging the 
cabin floor, and pouring into our state-room beneath the 
door. The captain's voice was heard in loud and hurried 
tones, the sailors ran to and fro, and the pulleys creaked as 
they furled their sails, the passengers flew out of their state- 
rooms, and to add to the general uproar, a knife-basket sit- 
ting on the cabin table was thrown with violence against the 
state-room, and the knives and forks, in a terrible clatter, 
flew into every corner of the cabin. This lasted only about 
twenty minutes, and was the only unpleasant occurrence 
during the whole voyage. While crossing the Banks of 
Newfoundland, we had some foggy days, as is always the 
case. We hoped to have had a glimpse of some of the fish- 
ermen and their vessels, but on account of the dense fog we 
did not distinguish one. Every few minutes, a signal bell 
was rung on our ship as a warning to any one who might 
be near us unseen. 

As the passengers recovered from sea-sickness, sociability 
returned, and a committee was appointed to make arrange- 
ments for some intellectual treats. How much we missed the 
daily news ! How we longed to know what was going on 
in the great world, to which we seemed no longer to belong ! 
The only event of any importance that occurred among us, 
was an occasional visit from some of Mother Carey's 
chickens, which afforded a topic of conversation and wonder 



34 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

how they could stand upon the water, where they came from, 
why they were never seen near land, and where they made 
their nests — all of which questions nobody yet has been able 
to answer ; or the sight of a shoal of porpoises which occa- 
sionally followed the vessel, and, in a most obliging and 
comical manner, performed a wallopade for our amusement. 
Several lectures were delivered, which were very useful and 
interesting. The Captain lectured on the " Ocean," giving 
us many important items of information, and stating many 
facts which were altogether new to some of us land lubbers. 
Dr. McFarlane lectured one evening on " Insanity." Mr. 
Bullard gave a lecture on " The West." The Captain spent 
another evening in giving us the details of the burning of 
the Ocean Monarch, two years since, not far from Liverpool. 
The New World rescued sixty of the passengers from the 
wreck. One of the Captain's crew was "Jerome," about 
whom so much was said at the time. Rev. Mr. Chapin 
delivered a first rate lecture on Intemperance, and Rev. Mr. 
Beecher gave an address on another occasion, &c. Then 
our table talk, if not interesting enough to give to the world, 
was so exceedingly pleasant to ourselves, that on more than 
one occasion, tea time found us all grouped around the table, 
unmoved, just as dinner left us. Stories, wild and tame, 
were told; discussions, hot and cold, took place. The 
political affairs of the old and the new world were all brought 
on to the carpet and settled by prophesy, if in no other way, 
to the satisfaction of all concerned. All the movements of 
the present day were canvassed, and either approved or 
condemned. Men and measures were handled without 
mittens, and sometimes without mercy. What else could be 
expected of so many idle lawyers, doctors, judges and 
ministers, without any causes to plead or criminals to con- 
demn ! There was a regular wordy contest, too, about all 
the isms and pathys of the age; and we had some very 



LETTER NO. III. 35 

warm disputants, especially in favor of homoeopathy and 
hydropathy. When tired of the cabin, we sat on deck. 
We had our amusements, too; the principal of which was a 
game of shovel-cove, played with blocks, squares and num- 
bers being marked on the deck with chalk. Twelve, or 
more, could play at once. This game is a fine exercise, as 
well as amusement. One day, we became quite interested 
in the trial of a steerage passenger. Considerable excite- 
ment was raised on the forward deck by the conduct of one 
of the passengers, who had passed a counterfeit two dollar 
bill on a poor woman on board. When she ascertained it 
was a counterfeit, he refused to exchange it. The steerage 
passengers took it up. After consulting our lawyers and 
our judge, they put the man on trial in a regular way, sum- 
moning a jury and witnesses. The matter was tried ; the 
man was found guilty, and sentenced to be ducked once an 
hour, day and night, in a hogshead of water, till he made 
reparation. Just before the first hour was out, he took back 
the bill, and forked over another. 

As we approached a higher latitude, the weather, of 
course, became colder, and the nights shorter. Some days, 
it was really so cold that winter clothing was necessary ; it 
was not dark till ten o'clock, and was day-break at a little 
past two in the morning. It seemed wonderful to me, that 
in the midst of the pathless ocean we could tell just where 
we were, and by throwing out the log, we could ascertain 
just how many miles we were going in an hour. 

I cannot describe the joy with which our eyes first greeted 
Cape Clear. We had a fine view of the coast of the 
Emerald Isle — saw the place where the Albion was 
wrecked, near thirty years ago. Twelve of our party had' 
resolved to land at Cork, and, taking a trip to the Lakes of 
Killarney, and from thence to Dublin, and down to Liver- 
pool, calculated to reach the latter place almost as soon as 



36 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUEOPE. 

the ship itself. But the wind would not allow us to land. 
We had head winds again in St. George's channel, and 
crept along slowly, but the weather was pleasant, and we 
saw the most beautiful sunsets imaginable. It is almost 
worth the trouble of a voyage to see a sunrise and a sunset 
at sea. As we began to draw nearer land, our attention 
was arrested by numerous vessels of all descriptions, unlike 
our own. This was peculiarly striking as we came into the 
river Mersey. The steamboats, tugboats, and smaller ves- 
sels are all painted black, with edges or stripes of white. 
The pipes of the steamers are painted, one-quarter of their 
height perhaps in black, one-quarter in vermillion color, then 
white, and topped with black, giving them a very gay ap- 
pearance. The small sailing vessels, instead of white sails, 
had nearly all sails of brick or chocolate color. Several 
miles from Liverpool we took on board a pilot, and were 
towed up the river by a tugboat, as there was very little 
wind. Our delight at being so near land can scarcely be 
conceived by any who have not been at sea. Soon after 
our arrival at the bar was telegraphed, we were enabled to 
get hold of some English newspapers, from which we learn- 
ed the death of Sir Robert Peel; and the first American 
news that greeted us as we came in sight of Liverpool was 
the sad intelligence of President Taylor's death. Owing to 
low tide, we were compelled to anchor out in the stream, 
and here were visited by custom-house officers. The steer- 
age was first examined, and one man was detected in stow- 
ing away large plugs of tobacco about his person. On 
examination fourteen large plugs were found upon him, and 
in his chest a bag of plugs was found, weighing a great 
many pounds. It was taken from him, and he held in ar- 
rest, liable to a fine of £100 or $500. The examination on 
board ship was very rigid. Several men with lanterns 
searched every state-room, although it was broad day-light ; 



LETTEK NO. IV. 37 

they looked under the berths, lifted up the matresses, looked 
between the bed-clothes, and in every nook and corner. 
The baggage of the passengers, however, was reserved for 
inspection at the custom-house, but the ship was faithfully 
searched. At length, a steamer took us from the ship, and 
with three cheers, long and loud, which it seemed must 
startle old John Bull, we bade adieu to the " New World,' 
and turned our faces to the beautiful city of Liverpool, which 
loomed up to our view. At 12 o'clock, July 30th, just 
twenty days from the time we left New York, we arrived 
at this place; "and so it came to pass, we escaped all safe 
to land." 



LETTER NO. IV. 

London, August 17, 1850. 

We arrived in London late in the evening, and stopped 
at Morley's Hotel. In the morning, when I raised my cur- 
tain and threw up my window, I was delighted with the 
scenes presented to my view. Morley's Hotel is opposite 
Trafalgar Square, with the Strand on one side and Pali Mall 
on the other. Two beautiful "jets d'eau" were playing in 
front; at my right was an equestrian statue of George IV., 
and at my left a monument to Lord Nelson. " The National 
Gallery " was also in full view. 

We had hastened to London, by the advice of friends, as 
it had been announced that the Queen would prorogue Par- 
liament in person, and as the sporting season commences 
3 



38 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

the 12th of August, the city would soon be deserted by the 
nobility. 

There are so many objects of curiosity to a traveler in 
this great and wonderful city, that many weeks would 
scarcely suffice to obtain a glimpse of its wonders. We have, 
however, been very busy and have visited several of the 
most prominent points of interest. Taking a steamer at the 
Suspension Bridge, we proceeded down the Thames to the 
Tunnel, having a fine view of the city on each side, as this 
river winds through its centre. There are several bridges 
thrown across the Thames, and in passing under them the 
steamers are obliged to lower their chimneys. It is a curi- 
ous sight to see the chimneys toppling over, on hinges, as 
you reach the bridges, and then to see them rise up again 
after you have passed. The Thames Tunnel is a stupen- 
dous work. By several pairs of winding stairs you descend 
into the Tunnel, which you find whitewashed and lighted 
well, with stalls, fitted up on one side for the sale of toys, 
books or confectionary. In the Tunnel, for the first time in 
my life, I heard music performed by steam. On one side 
of the Tunnel is a ball-room, in which I was assured people 
often have very merry times. I could not but wonder at 
the design and successful completion of this gigantic work, 
nor could I divest myself of the idea that a river was roiling 
over my head, and might, perchance, come bursting down 
upon me. I was glad once more to find myself in upper 
regions. The Tower and Tower Hill one cannot visit with- 
out deep interest. The area of the Tower, within the walls, 
is more than twelve acres. William the Conqueror, in 1076, 
is supposed to have commenced the building of this great 
pile, to which additions have been made by William Rufus, 
Henry I., Henry III., Edward IV., Richard III., Henry 
VIII. , and new buildings are now being added to repair the 
ruins of a late fire. This place has been occupied as a 



LETTER NO. IV. 39 

palace by many of the sovereigns of Great Britain. And 
oh ! how many scenes of blood have been enacted here. 
We saw the very spot where Anna Boleyn and Catharine 
of Arragon, and Lady Jane Grey, and hosts of others were 
beheaded; and saw the very instruments with which their 
heads were severed from their bodies, and the block on which 
so many heads have been laid, that it is covered with cuts 
and indentures like a butcher's block. The stones on the 
spot where these executions took place are for several yards 
so discolored, while all the pavement about is white, that it 
seemed as if they must be stained with blood. 

We went into the chapel and stood upon the very spot 
where the bones of Anna Boleyn and the Lady Jane Grey 
now moulder, and saw the marble images of the Earl of 
Dudley and Lady Jane, as at full length they lay, side by 
side, sculptured within the chapel wall. We went into the cell 
where Sir Walter Raleigh was confined, and read some of 
the inscriptions cut by unfortunate prisoners on its walls. We 
also saw a thumb screw and saw it applied. The "Bloody 
Tower" was shown us, where, among other atrocities, it is 
said, "the Innocents" were smothered by their uncle, Rich- 
ard III.; the room also where Anna Boleyn was imprisoned, 
and where Guy Fawkes was tried — and the tower, or rather 
the remains of the tower, where it is said the Duke of Clar- 
ence was drowned in a butt of malmsey. The Hall of 
Knights is full of interest. Here are knights, looking as if 
they were alive, and their eyes flashing fire, mounted upon 
their pawing steeds, in full aimor — not only in the exact 
style of the various periods in which they lived, but in the 
very armor which was worn. The weight of their armor 
was enormous. And we were told that the little sprigs of 
nobility, from their earliest years, were trained to wear it. 
A boy of five years could wear armor that would weigh 
twenty-five pounds. It was fitted to his age and size, and 



40 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

a part of a child's daily discipline was, for a certain period, 
to wear his armor and accustom himself to its weight. 

We were then shown the Queen's Regalia, some of which 
was to be taken out next day for her public appearance in 
Parliament. Here was Queen Victoria's crown, valued at 
£1,000,000, or $5,000,000. The crown which Anna Bo- 
leyn wore is here also, as is that of George the Fourth ; the 
baptismal font of gold and the Royal communion service, 
consisting of a golden plate, elaborately wrought, two feet 
in diameter, and two golden flagons, &c. These are all en- 
closed in a glass case in the centre of the room, around 
which is an iron frame work to keep the precious jewels 
safe. The entire value of the Regalia is £3,000,000, or 
$15,000,000. 

Through the politeness of Mr. Richard Cobden, we were 
shown over the House of Parliament, which is an immense 
building, and will be a splendid one when it is completed, 
and the ruins of the fire are wholly repaired. It is as intri- 
cate as a rabbit-warren, and we almost lost ourselves in its 
- labyrinths. Ladies are not permitted to enter the House of 
Commons, but he took me to the entrance-door, the upper 
part of which is glass, shaded with so slight a curtain that I 
could distinctly observe all the proceedings without being 
seen myself. I saw the Speaker of the House with his great 
grey wig on, Lord John Russell, who was on the floor, &c. 
The House of Commons is very plain, but the House of 
Lords is most magnificent. We have nothing to compare 
with it in America. 

I was indebted also to Mr. R. Cobden for a ticket of ad- 
mission to the House of Lords to see the Queen prorogue 
Parliament. This, for an opportunity to see all the nobil- 
ity, is fully equal to a presentation to the Queen. A ticket 
of admission is obtained only from the Lord Chamberlain 
through a Peer. My ticket of admission ran thus: 



*n 






LETTER NO. IV. 41 

No. 75. London, Aug. 15, 1850. \ 

Admit 



Full Dress. 



WlLLOUGHBY DE ERESBY, Gr. C. 



On the back of the card — 

"No lady admitted except in full dress." 

The streets were lined with people to see the Queen pass. 
I understand it is three years since she has prorogued Par- 
liament in person. Temporary seats, three tiers or more, 
were built up on each side, for which some persons paid 
three shillings (or seventy-five cents J each. 

No gentlemen are admitted to the floor of the House of 
Lords except peers, Bishops, and Ambassadors, and there 
are seats for only about two hundred ladies. It was an- 
nounced that the Queen would arrive at 2 o'clock, and to be 
in season I took a carriage at half -past eleven. There were 
about fifteen carriages in advance of mine, and as the House 
was not opened until 12 o'clock, the ladies must of course 
sit in their carriages until their turn came to be admitted. 
Precisely at twelve the door was opened, and when all the 
carriages before me were emptied and my turn came, I was 
allowed to pass in, but without the escort of any gentleman. 
Only about thirty ladies were seated before me, and I was 
shown one of the most desirable places for observation in 
the room, near the Queen, and for two hours and a half I 
had an admirable opportunity to scan the novel scenes be- 
fore me. 

The House of Lords is a most gorgeous place. The ceil- 
ing is magnificently gilded in raised figures, and the galler- 
ies are formed of very open iron-work, also gilded. The 



42 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Queen's throne, or chair of State, her canopy, &c, have 
also all the appearance of the most elegant carved work, 
covered with gold. The seats, arranged lengthwise of the 
room in four rows, were without backs and covered with 
crimson morocco. One of the most beautiful young ladies 
in the rooms at at my right hand, and, very fortunately for 
me, she was agreeable and communicative, and pointed out 
many persons of rank, whom I could not have recognized 
but for her politeness. In answer to one of my inquiries, 
whether such a lady was a Peeress, my companion replied, 
"Oh, yes, we are all Peeresses, you know." I smiled, but 
did not undeceive her, thinking, as it was the first and last 
time I should ever pass for a Peeress, I would enjoy my 
rank. 

The Duke of Wellington came early; he walked about, 
shaking hands and talking with all the ladies he knew, and 
I had a very fine opportunity both to see him and to hear 
him talk. He greeted our Minister, Mr. Lawrence, with 
great cordiality and respect. The Countess of Somers and 
some of the Dutchess Dowagers sat directly in front of me. 
The Bishops occupied a short front seat at the right of the 
Queen's chair of State ; the Ambassadors were seated be- 
hind them. The Nepaulese and Turkish Ministers alone 
sat with their heads covered. The Nepaulese Ambassador 
wore a cap covered with jewels, which it would have been 
a great pity not to display; he seems to be quite "a lion" 
here at this time. Crowds follow him, if in the street, at- 
tracted, I suppose, mostly by the exceeding splendor of his 
costume. The front seat on each side beyond the Bishops 
was occupied by the Peers, in crimson robes, striped cross- 
wise with ermine ; and each had a black bow on his left 
shoulder, a badge of mourning, I was told, for the late Duke 
of Cambridge, the Queen's uncle. In the gallery, opposite 
the Queen's chair, the front seat was occupied by reporters, 



LETTER NO. IV. 43 

and behind were a few gentlemen and ladies. In the side 
galleries were about fifty ladies. In the centre of the room 
was a large table covered with documents and writing ma- 
terials, behind which sat four gentlemen in grey wigs. All 
the Judges and lawyers wear such comical looking wigs that 
I can scarcely preserve my gravity when looking at them. 
The tip-top ones have long ears to them, like the tabs of a 
lady's cap, and they look woolly as if they were cut out of 
a sheep's hide and colored grey ; I do not know what they 
are made of. Some wear wigs, shaped to the head, with 
three or four rows of tight curls and two little queues hang- 
ing down behind. When every thing seemed ready, and 
the time had nearly arrived for the ceremony, it was whis- 
pered about that the Queen's speech could not be found. I 
was at first disposed to be amused at the idea that the Queen 
had lost her speech; but, upon second thought, my selfishness 
suggested that it was no laughable matter, as in that case I 
should not hear it delivered, and so I joined in the general 
sympathy. At length, the Lord Chancellor, preceded by the 
mace, entered and took his seat. Prayers were read before 
her Majesty's arrival by the Bishop of Hereford. The pray- 
ers offered for the Queen are truly excellent ; allusion is 
made, briefly, to " Prince Albert, Albert, Prince of Wales, 
and all the royal family." We then sat a few moments in 
silence. I can give you no idea of the splendor of the scene 
before me. I never saw so brilliant a display of jewels be- 
fore ; such costly array and such magnificent head-dresses, 
composed of feathers, flowers, pearls, diamonds and bril- 
liants of every description. The room had the appearance 
of a flower garden, so varied and beautiful were the hues of 
the ladies' dresses. One of the prettiest young ladies I saw 
was Lady Constance, youngest daughter of the Dutchess of 
Sutherland. She was in mourning. 



44 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Some were dressed in rose-colored satin, with lace dresses 
over, flounced with very elegant Brussels lace a quarter of 
a yard wide, three rows. Two sisters wore very light blue 
silks with five flounces, pinked, and a white drooping feath- 
er on each side of their back hair, tipped with blue. White 
brocade silks with broad Brussels flounces, straw-colored, 
with black lace flounces, and the richest brocades of all 
colors, and plain changeable silks were worn. One lady 
was beautifully dressed in a very light delicate green silk, 
with flounces. She was very fair, had dark hair, and wore 
white plumes. Nearly all wore their hair twisted or braided 
very low behind. I saw very few French twists. Some 
wore cable twists. Their dresses are shorter waisted than 
with us, and they wear them so low in the neck, especially 
some of the old ladies, that I was quite scandalized, and 
scarcely knew whether to laugh or cry at the sight. At 
length, the report of cannons announced the Queen's ap- 
proach, and a flourish of trumpets preceded her up the stairs. 
She stepped into her robing chamber before she entered 
and put on her robe of State. Then the door was thrown 
open and the Royal Procession was ushered in by the her- 
alds — the officers of the Royal household followed. The 
Duke of Wellington bore the sword of State. The Marquis 
of Lansdown carried the crown on a crimson velvet cushion, 
which he held during the whole ceremony. This crown the 
Queen never wears. The Lord Chancellor carried the 
great seal. 

Queen Victoria came next, leaning on Prince Albert's 
arm, wearing over her dress a crimson velvet robe, trimmed 
with jewels, her train being borne by the Lord and Lady in 
waiting, the Dutchess of Sutherland and two pages. She 
ascended the steps to the throne with peculiar grace and 
dignity, and her crimson robe was gently withdrawn. The 
Lord and Lady in waiting and the pages withdrew behind 



LETTER NO. IV. 45 

her chair. The Dutchess of Sutherland, a fine looking wo- 
man, in mourning, stood one step below the Queen at her 
left hand, the Duke of Wellington next her, and Prince Al- 
bert sat near him. The Marquis of Winchester, the Lord 
Chancellor and the Marquis of Lansdown stood at th 
Queen's right hand. The Queen is too small in stature, but 
she has a pleasing face and was dressed magnificently, and 
she is remarkably easy, graceful and dignified in all her 
movements. She wore a dress of gold and silver tissue, and 
her tiara, stomacher and necklace were all composed of dia- 
monds. Every time she moved, even slightly, her jewels 
glistened in the most dazzling manner. Prince Albert wore 
a Field Marshal's uniform, with a band of black crape on 
his left arm. He is quite a handsome man. Of course, 
every body rose as the Queen entered and did not resume 
their seats till she sat down. I imagined she colored a little 
under the deep gaze of so many eyes and so many glasses 
as were cocked at her Majesty. The Queen then dispatched 
an usher to summon " the Commons," who were in waiting 
outside the House of Lords. They came in a body and 
formed behind a railing underneath the gallery and oppo- 
site her Majesty. The Speaker of the House of Commons 
addressed the Queen at some length. Two of the gentle- 
men who sat at the table then rose, and making very low 
bows to the Queen, one repeated the title of a bill to which 
her Royal assent was requested. The other turned round 
to the House of Commons, and said, " La Reine le vent" 
" The Queen approves or assents." He then turned towards 
the Queen, and both the "wigs" bowed low again. This 
form was repeated a dozen or more times, till her assent to 
all the bills in question was made known. If the Queen 
does not approve the bill, he says, " La Reine s'avisera." 
"The Queen will consider of it," which is understood to be 
a delicate way of expressing her disapprobation. Her Mn- 
3* 



46 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

jesty then proceeded to read her speech, which had been 
found, and was presented to her by the Lord Chancellor, 
kneeling. Her speech was written on foolscap, which she 
rested on her lap as she read, sitting. She is a beautiful 
reader. Her enunciation was slow and distinct — her man- 
ner calm, dignified and self-possessed. To republican eyes 
it was a strange sight to see such a body of men standing 
grouped before a lady to receive orders, and it sounded 
strangely to hear her say: " My Lords and Gentlemen, I 
have the satisfaction of being able to release you from the 
duties of a laborious session," &c. But she said it with 
wonderful grace and dignity as well as authority. Her 
speech was short ; every word of it was heard distinctly by 
every person present. 

The Lord Chancellor then received the copy of the speech 
from her Majesty, kneeling, and her commands in regard 
to the prorogation. Then rising, he turned to the House 
and said, "My Lords and Gentlemen, it is her Majesty's 
will and pleasure that Parliament be prorogued till the 15th 
of October next." The Queen then rose and retired as she 
entered. Her State carriage is as magnificent as her attire. 
It glittered with gold, and was drawn by eight cream-colored 
horses in gilt trappings. The life-guards walked on each 
side of the carriage, and the horse-guards rode behind. 
Thus ended this day's pageantry. 

On Monday, 19th, the Delegation to the Peace Congress 
leave London for Dover and Calais, in company. The 
names of four or five hundred are already enrolled, and 
extra accommodations are provided. 



LETTER NO. V. 

At 4 o'clock, p. m., August 19th, we left London for 
Dover, by railroad, on our way to Frankfort, Germany, 
five hundred and eight miles. Four hundred and sixty-five 
names had been enrolled on the list of Delegates to the 
Peace Convention w T hich was to assemble on the 22d. 
About 8 o'clock in the evening, we reached Dover. The 
streets and wharf were lined with people, who had swarmed 
thither out of curiosity to see the crowd of members to the 
Peace Congress. With the greatest difficulty we made our 
way through the multitude, and covered the steamer. It is 
only twenty-two miles to Calais, and as it was a beautiful 
moonlight evening, and would take but two hours to land us 
on the other side of the Straits of Dover, the majority of 
the company preferred remaining on deck. But there was 
quite a stiff breeze, and in a few minutes the vessel rolled 
and pitched, and the water splashed over our vessel's side, 
driving the passengers from stem to stern. They tumbled 
over the baggage and over one another, and were drenched 
in water ; and, to add to all this, nearly every one became 
very sea-sick, while wedged in with the crowd they could 
not move. Oh, how much some suffered ! To those who 
were so fortunate as not to experience any sea-sickness, the 
scene afforded the greatest amusement. They laughed most 
heartily, while the poor, miserable objects of their mirth 
wondered how any body could laugh at the misfortunes of 
others. It was a long two hours, but it had an end, and we 
hurried off the boat to the Custom House. Our train was 
an extra, fitted out especially to accommodate the members 
of the Peace Congress, and the friends of the cause who 



48 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

should go with them; and an arrangement had been made 
by the London Committee, with the officers of the different 
governments, to allow them to pass without examination of 
passports and baggage. Each one, however, had a large 
card, of the size of a small sheet of letter paper, done up in 
an envelop, signed, sealed and numbered by the committee, 
to show that he belonged to the company. They were 
allowed to go to Frankfort and return the next week, for the 
usual price of one way, which was about fifteen dollars in 
the second class cars, and a third more in the first. When 
we had all passed the Custom House in single file, showing 
our certificates, we seated ourselves in the cars and were 
soon whirled away, traveling all night. When you once 
get in a car, either in England or on the Continent, you are 
in and cannot get out, for the conductor passes from car to 
car and locks every door, and there you must stay till he sees 
lit to let you out. You see none of the popping in and out 
that prevails in America. Police men are stationed through- 
out the railroad routes in sight of each other, flag in hand, 
to notify in case of danger, and I have been much impressed 
with the care and watchfulness manifested every where. It 
is very seldom that any railroad accident occurs in these 
countries. You find no notices like the following, seen in 
our own country — '"Look out for the engine while the bell 
rings" — but every avenue leading to the railroad is closed 
by a gate, or a policeman is at hand when the cars are 
expected, and the road undergoes a special review before 
the train arrives, by the numerous railroad police. 

After such a siege of sea-sickness as we experienced the 
evening before, traveling all night, and eating nothing since 
3 o'clock the day before, you may imagine that an appetite 
for a comfortable breakfast was not wanting ; but, as if we 
were on an errand of life and death, we were not allowed 
to stop long enough to obtain refreshments till 11 o'clock in 



LETTER NO. V. 49 

the forenoon, and then only ten minutes. The moment the 
doors were unlocked, the famished passengers set out on a 
full run to the nearest eating establishments, and, losing sight 
of their peace principles, there ensued a general skirmish 
for hot coffee and rolls. The stoutest and fiercest, of course, 
conquered; and the vanquished had to hush the gnawings 
of hunger till 1 o'clock, and then a dinner prepared for a 
hundred, perhaps, afforded a fit oscasion for another battle 
among the four hundred distinguished combatants. 

To Ghent, we found the country level, and highly culti- 
vated in small patches. No fences or walls marred the 
scene, but it was all like one large, beautiful garden. Some 
of the country seemed like our prairies, well tilled. Cows 
were drawing the plough, and we were surprised at the 
rudeness of the agricultural tools. Ghent was, perhaps, 
the largest and most populous city of Europe, in the time of 
Charles V., containing one hundred and seventy-five thou- 
sand inhabitants; now, it has only ninety-seven thousand. 

From Liege, a city of seventy-five thousand inhabitants, 
to some distance beyond Aix la Chapelle, the scenery was 
mountainous and beautiful — beyond that, to Cologne, the 
land was level and poor. We saw women sawing wood, 
carrying coal, reaping, mowing, and engaged in all kinds of 
out-door work. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, beans, hemp, 
grass and clover, seemed to be the chief productions of the 
soil on our route. We saw very little corn, and that small. 
The houses were low and uncomfortable. 

Aix la Chapelle contains, perhaps, forty-eight thousand 
inhabitants, if is a fine city, and is famous as the birth and 
burial place of Charlemagne, to whom it owes its eminence. 
In the Cathedral here, they profess to show you some won- 
derful relics, among which are the skull and arm-bone of 
Charlemagne; though it is affirmed by some, whose knowl- 
edge of anatomy leaves no room for a doubt, that the bone 



60 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

is no arm at all, but a leg bone. This arm is enclosed in a 
case, made for it by order of Louis XI., of France. They 
also show a lock of the Virgin Mary's hair, a piece of the 
true cross, a nail of the cross, the sponge which was filled 
with vinegar, some of the blood and bones of St. Stephen, 
some of the manna from the wilderness, and some bits of 
Aaron's rod. It was upon these relics that the Emperor of 
Germany swore at his coronation! 

The "Grandes Reliques" are shown only once in seven 
years, from the 15th to 17th of July. The next exhibition 
will take place in 1853. So highly has the privilege of 
obtaining a glimpse at these relics been esteemed in former 
times, that no fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand 
pilgrims have resorted to this spot on the occasion; and in 
1846, the last anniversary, the number exceeded one hun- 
dred and eighty thousand ! 

Some of these relics are as follows: The robe worn by 
the Virgin at the nativity — it is of cotton, five feet long. The 
swaddling clothes in which Christ was wrapped ; they are of 
cloth, coarse as sacking, of a yellow color. The cloth on 
which the head of John the Baptist was laid. The scarf 
worn by our Saviour at the Crucifixion, stained with blood, 
&c. 

We spent the night at Cologne. This city is the largest 
and wealthiest city on the Rhine ; its population is eighty- 
five thousand. Here is one of the most beautiful Gothic 
Cathedrals in Europe ; it is, however, like very many of the 
most elegant and costly churches on the Continent, unfinished. 
We did not reach Cologne till evening, and it was rather a 
difficult matter to dispose of nearly five hundred visitors. 
Our accommodations were miserable. It was a warm night 
in August, and my bed consisted of a huge feather bed, a 
large feather pillow to put my feet upon, and two pillows for 
my head, with a feather bed to cover over all. They use 



LETTER NO. V. 51 

none but single bedsteads in Germany, either in hotels or 
private houses. I ought, in justice, to say that, except in 
one other instance, we have found excellent beds in Ger- 
many. They generally have a comforter of down, which 
you can use or not, for an outer covering ; but only among 
the lower class do you find the huge feather beds to smother 
you in, which I have named above. We found, almost 
invariably, excellent matresses and clean beds throughout 
Germany and Switzerland. 

In the morning, we took a steamer to M ayence ; and in 
the beautiful scenery which burst upon us after we left Bonn, 
a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants, we forgot all the 
discomforts and annoyances of the preceding day and nights. 
Within twenty-four hours, we were in four different king- 
doms — England, France, Belgium and Prussia. 

Bonn is famous for its University, and a huge palace 
built for the Electors of Cologne in 1730, nearly half a 
mile long, serves to contain the University. Prince Albert 
was a student here. Beethoven, the composer, was born 
here in 1770. 

The banks of the Rhine, even to the summits of the 
highest hills, are in a state of the greatest cultivation. 
Every little strip of land, even amidst the rocks and almost 
inaccessible places, apparently, seemed to be filled with grape 
vines. In some spots, where the hills were steep, they build 
up terraces. The vines are trained on poles, three, four, or 
five feet high, like hops, and require an immense amount of 
labor. The old castles, too, on each side of the stream, 
presenting every few miles their moss-covered ruins to our 
view, kept our curiosity alive. I did not count the castles 
we passed on the Rhine, but I think there must have been 
thirty or forty, perhaps more — all ruins — speaking of the 
past, telling of the dead — and in such meagre traditions as 
only to create mystery, excite imagination, and awaken 
melancholy. 



52 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Mayence is a beautiful city, with thirty-six thousand 
inhabitants, and has eight thousand soldiers stationed in it — 
half Prussian and half Austrian. It seemed, as we walked 
this city, that we were in a camp, surrounded with soldiers. 
The Cathedral is an object of interest. A part of it has 
been built nine hundred years. The tower suffered from 
the Prussian bombardment in 1793, and is just as they left it. 

From Mayence to Frankfort, we had a few miles of rail- 
road. We passed large fields of poppies, and a great 
abundance of plums. Hemp and flax fields, too, lined the 
road side. 

We arrived at Frankfort on the morning of the 22d of 
August, where we spent one week. A committee to pro- 
vide places for those who should attend the Peace Congress, 
assigned us lodgings in a family, the head of which is con- 
nected with the Post Office Department. They only 
assigned places ; every member defrayed his own expenses. 



LETTER VI. 

Thursday morning, August 22d, the Peace Congress con- 
vened in St. Paul's Church, Frankfort, which was two years 
since given up to the German Congress, arid has never been 
used since that time till it was opened for the Peace Con- 
vention. It is a very large building ; the seats are circular, 
with two galleries, and it will contain five thousand people. 
It was well filled during the three days' session, and the 
meetings were exceedingly interesting. Most of the coun- 
tries of Europe were represented there, and we had speech- 
es in German, French, English and Italian. The same 
speaker sometimes addressed the assembly in three different 
languages. Mr. Jaup, late Prime Minister of Hesse Darm- 
stadt, was in the chair. I cannot begin to give you an 
account of the many thrilling speeches that were made and 
translated, nor even give you a list of the many distinguish- 
ed men of all nations, present. Cobden and Gerardin were 
decidedly the greatest lions there, as far as speeches are 
concerned. It was a delightful meeting, and will be produc- 
tive, no doubt, of happy results. 

A letter was read from the Archbishop of Paris, approv- 
ing the meeting, &c. As near as I could learn, thirty-five 
American Delegates were present. I presume before this 
you have received, in the German newspapers, a full account 
of the meetings. I intended to have sent you an extra, 
published in English, if it had been out in time ; but it was 
not issued till the day after we left. We visited many pla- 
ces of interest in Frankfort, among which were the Cathe- 
dral, (a building of the thirteenth century,) in which forty- 
six Emperors have been chosen and crowned before the 



54 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

altar; and the Banqueting Hall, in the Town House, where 
the festivities succeeding the coronation were celebrated. 
Here are the portraits of fifty-two Emperors, from Conrad 
I. to Francis II. In the Dom Platz, we saw the house in 
which Luther resided , and the window from which he ad- 
dressed the people. Under it is his bust on the wall. We 
saw some very fine paintings also, among the best of which 
was a large painting of " Huss before the Council of Con- 
stance," an admirable picture, and a child of Rubens, paint- 
ed by himself, which was all but alive. 

The most curious place we saw was " Juden Gasse," the 
Jews' street, where the Rothschilds were born and lived, and 
where the old lady, not long since, died. I think I never 
saw a darker, more dirty, or forlorn looking place. I could 
think of nothing, as I looked into the long, dark, time-eaten 
halls of the houses in this quarier, but looking into the by- 
ways that lead to the bottomless pit. But black, old and 
gloomy as the place is, the old lady Rothschild could never 
be prevailed upon to leave the home of her youth and live 
in the palaces of her sons. 

We visited, also, the house where the poet Goethe was 
born. This is a beautiful residence. Some of the streets 
and houses in the new portions of Frankfort are very hand- 
some. The Cemetery at Frankfort is well worth visiting. 
It is unlike any other repository of the dead I have ever 
seen. The Old Cemetery, as it is called, is full; and as you 
enter a large and massive gateway, your eye meets one un- 
broken array of white marble gravestones, in the form of a 
cross. Trees, shrubbery and flowers surround the immense 
plat of graves. Bursting upon me unexpectedly, as it did, 
I felt for the moment that an army of the shrouded dead 
were waiting to receive us as we entered. 

Bordering on this large square, among the trees, are ma- 
ny very beautiful tombs, fine walks and rare flowers. Fresh 



LETTER NO. VI. 55 

flowers were lying on almost every grave, and wreaths of 
fresh flowers garnished every tomb. 

Among the monuments here was a chapel in gothic style, 
erected by one of the late Dukes of Hesse to the memory of 
the wife whom he married with his left hand. It cost an 
immense number of florins — I dare not say how many. On 
asking an explanation of a left-hand marriage, I was told 
that the Duke was allowed to marry two wives — a wife 
from the nobility, whom he married with the right hand, 
and a wife from the people, who could be married only with 
the left. That they were equally recognised and legal mar- 
riages, but the children only of the noble wife could inherit 
the titles and honors of the Ducal family. The Duke in- 
tended to have been buried in the tomb of the left-hand 
wife, but, as he made no will to that effect, when he died 
his remains were buried with his ancestors. He married 
another wife from the people after the death of his first left- 
hand wife, and his noble wife and the last left-hand wife are 
still living. I was quite incredulous about this matter, but 
was informed by four different intelligent Germans, natives 
of Frankfort, that it was even so. 

The streets of the old part of the city are exceedingly 
narrow, and the upper stories of the houses in some of them 
jut over the street so far that you can almost shake hands 
with your opposite neighbors. The streets are altogether 
paved with large flat stones, the old ones having no side- 
walks. Very many respectable families live in tiers or 
layers, one family living in the lower story, another in the 
second, and so on to the fifth, and sometimes higher. At 
the front door you will find five bell-knobs perhaps, one 
above the other, numbered one, two, three, and so on; you 
must ring the bell of the story in which your friend lives. 
Of course, the kitchen, &c, are all in the story occupied by 
each family. 



56 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

We were greatly harassed for a few days with the cur- 
rency — florins, groschens, silver groschens, kreutzers, and 
so on; and speaking no German, and but little French, we 
had marvelous times when we undertook to do any shop- 
ping. 

We found here, as in Mayence, several thousand soldiers 
stationed, half Austrians, and the other half Prussians. The 
citizens of Frankfort and other prominent places in the 
vicinity are exceedingly restive under the burdens and re- 
straints now laid upon them. The presence of foreign 
troops wounds their pride, and embitters their feelings 
toward their rulers. In speaking of these soldiers, as we 
passed some of them in the streets of Frankfort, a very in- 
telligent, wealthy citizen remarked to us, that he hoped soon 
to have a chance to exchange shots with some of them. The 
Prince of Prussia, who is very far from being popular among 
the people of Frankfort, reviewed the Prussian troops the 
morning before we left the city. A respectable committee 
was deputed to call on him with a petition from the citizens, 
praying that the number of troops in that city might be di- 
minished. We were informed that he replied, "You come 
from the discontented to complain, do you ? I will give you 
cause to complain. The number of troops shall be increas- 
ed." Many were greatly enraged by this reply. It is not 
easy to predict whereunto these things will grow. The 
standing armies, now employed in most parts of the conti- 
nent to keep the people under, are a grievous burden — a 
burden which cannot long be endured. Nearly half the 
vigorous, able-bodied men are now in the army. As a con- 
sequence, the women in great numbers are forced into the 
fields, to do the hard labor that should be done by those who 
are wasting their time and strength in burnishing their 
weapons of war. If man forsakes his home for the army, 
and woman leaves it for the field, what becomes of the care- 



LETTER NO. VII. 57 

fill training of children, and who is to make bright and cheer- 
ful the fireside, and cultivate the dear delights of home? 



• ♦•■» » 



LETTER VII. 

On the twenty-eighth day of August we left Frankfort 
for Heidelberg by railroad, a distance of fifty-six miles. The 
country was level and uninteresting till we reached Darm- 
stadt. This is the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 
and the Grand Duke resides here. Population thirty thou- 
sand. From Darmstadt to Heidelberg the scenery is beau- 
tiful. We had a view of the highest peak of the Odenwald 
chain of hills, the Melibocus, from the top of which you can 
see sixty miles. On our route to Heidelberg we had a view 
of the Castles of Auerberg, the Abbey of Lorsch, Starken- 
berg Castle, and the ruined Castle of Strahlenberg. Hei- 
delberg and its vicinity are beautiful. From the terrace, 
facing the river Neckar, on which it stands, we had a mag- 
nificent view of the town and the majestic hills behind it. 
The castle has the most imposing front of any that I have 
yet seen. This was for many years the residence of the 
Electors Palatine. It is said very few towns in Europe have 
experienced the horrors of war more frequently than this 
city. It has been five times bombarded, twice burnt, and 
three times taken by assault and pillaged. Its castle would 
seem from its situation and strength to be impregnable ; but 
one of the towers was undermined by the French, and half 
of it, instead of crumbling to pieces in the fall, has slid down 
in one solid mass into the ditch. 



58 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

In the cellar we saw the famous tuns built to hold the 
wine used at the castle. One (the small one, as the guide 
called it) was built in 1662, and holds ten thousand gallons, 
or sixty thousand bottles. But it seems this did not begin 
to meet the necessities of the noble family, and another was 
built in 1751 which holds forty-six thousand gallons; it took 
six months to empty it. It is thirty-two feet long and twenty- 
four feet high, and cost eighty thousand florins, or thirty-two 
thousand dollars. After taking a look at its dimensions be- 
hind and before, and on each side, which were amazing, we 
walked up quite a flight of stairs to the top ; over it is built 
a platform with a railing around it. Upon this platform the 
guide said it was customary to have a dance whenever the 
tun was newly filled. It has not been filled since 1769. 

We visited St. Peter's Church and saw the door on which 
Jerome of Prague attached his celebrated theses, and the 
place where he expounded his doctrines to the multitude in 
the neighboring church-yard. The inscriptions, in the part 
of the church-yard which we saw, were altogether in He- 
brew, and have stood many, many years. 

The University of Heidelberg is one of the oldest in Ger- 
many — was founded in 1386. It has now six hundred 
students. We visited the library, which contains an im- 
mense number of books, and were shown some very great 
literary curiosities ; among which were Luther's manuscript 
translation of Isaiah, in a state of excellent preservation — 
the manuscripts of Thucydides and Plutarch, of the 10th 
and 11th centuries-— a copy of the Heidelberg Catechism, 
with Luther's annotations in his own handwriting — and the 
Prayer Book of the Electress Elizabeth, daughter of James 
I., in her own writing. 

From Heidelberg we took the railroad to Carlsruhe. Thi 
is the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and conta" 
between twenty and thirty thousand inhabitants. This cii 



LETTER NO. VII. 59 

is laid out in a very singular manner. The palace is sur- 
rounded by a circular court-yard, a handsome row of houses 
forming a circle about it. All the streets of the city, like 
the spokes of a wheel, terminate in this centre ; so that in a 
walk round this circle, you can see through all the main 
streets, and in a few moments obtain a good general view 
of the town. 

There is also a beautiful avenue of Lombardy poplars, 
two miles long, leading to Durlach ; none of these poplars 
are less than ninety feet and some a hundred and twenty 
feet in height. After leaving the Rastadt station, a few 
miles from here is seen an old deserted chateau of the Mar- 
graves of Baden, built by Sybilla, wife of Louis of Baden. 
This lady was very beautiful, and it is said was as vain as 
she was handsome. There are sixty or seventy portraits of 
her, taken in different costumes, still hanging in her bou- 
doir. In her old age she became exceedingly bigoted. Her 
whole time was spent in privation and penance. She wore 
a hair shirt and a cross of wire net-work with points inside 
next her skin, and had two circular pieces of the same mate- 
rial to kneel upon. Her bed was a thin rush mat laid upon 
the floor. 

For a number of miles we found wreaths of flowers hung 
up in every direction, and flags flying from almost every 
house. On inquiry we found it was the birth-day of the 
Grand Duke, who was fifty-eight years of age. When we 
entered Baden, which is a city of great beauty, embosomed 
among the hills of the Black Forest, and built on the Oos 
river, we found great preparations making for extensive 
fireworks in honor of the Grand Duke. This city contains 
six thousand inhabitants, and has been a celebrated water- 

\g place ; it is said thirty-two thousand people visited it last 
r. We went to the old castle where the Margraves of 

.tden lived six hundred years. The dungeons under the 



60 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUEOPE. 

castle are well worth a visit. Following a guide, we were 
conducted down winding stairs through several narrow dark 
entries with cells on each side, and came to a passage where, 
looking up, we discovered the light through a large tunnel 
leading up to the top of the castle. Here, our guide told 
us, persons had been let down blindfolded in an arm-chair, 
never to find their way out. Wander wherever they would, 
a dark cell would receive them, and a ponderous stone door, 
at length, by an invisible hand, would shut upon them. 
These stone doors are composed of one solid slab, a foot 
and a half thick, and springs concealed in the wall would 
slowly turn them on a pivot and close them so that no hu- 
man strength could force them. She showed us also one 
dungeon in which the instruments of torture were still re- 
maining, and a trap-door beyond which an image of the 
Virgin stood in a niche. On being told to kiss the Virgin, 
the prisoner stepping on the trap-door found it fall beneath 
him, and he was precipitated on a wheel filled with knives 
and cut to pieces. 

At Basle we visited the cathedral in which Erasmus is 
buried, and the cloisters which were his favorite resort, and 
went into the room where the famous Council of Basle were 
accustomed to meet. Here Pope Eugene IV. was dethroned 
and replaced by Felix V. This room was full of interest to 
us, as it remains precisely in its original state. In the libra- 
ry of the university we saw, among other curiosities, some 
manuscripts of Erasmus, who was Professor here. 

The country from Basle to Berne is very beautiful. The 
soil is rich and highly cultivated. But it is a melancholy 
sight to see the women engaged in the most laborious out- 
door duties, and cows yoked together performing the labor 
of oxen and horses with us, and driven by women. We 
often met women leading a cow, by a rope round her horns, 
attached to a load of hay. One of the greatest beauties of 



LETTER NO. VII. 61 

the scenery on the continent, is the absence of those ugly 
fences and rude walls which mar so greatly the aspect of 
the cultivated parts of our own country. Here, for miles, you 
see nothing unsightly. The roads are in perfect repair, not 
a fence even between them and the fields ; but one vast 
beautiful field or garden is spread out to your admiring 
view. How each land owner, without any visible limit, can 
understand the boundary of his own possessions, especially 
after his crop is garnered, is a mystery to me. Or how 
people can live together in harmony, without quarrels and 
lawsuits, where no constant visible barrier between mine 
and thine exists, I cannot comprehend. 

Berne is a beautiful city, with twenty or thirty thousand in- 
habitants. Here we obtained our fir si view (and a most mag- 
nificent one it was) of the snowy Alps. The sky was clear, 
without a cloud, and nearly a dozen peaks of the Bernese 
Alps rose up in all their beauty and majesty before us, like so 
many pyramids of snow. You can scarcely imagine our feel- 
ings, as we seated ourselves beneath the shade of some old, 
lofty green tree, on the terrace back of the cathedral, to enjoy 
the beautiful landscape before us. It was the 30th of August, 
and every thing about us wore the livery of summer. The 
river Aar rolled one hundred and eight feet below us, at our 
feet. The hills about us were clothed with verdure, and yet 
we were in full sight of the land of eternal snows. There 
is a great deal to interest and amuse a traveler in Berne. 
The costumes of the Swiss are a novelty ; some of their 
fashions are very becoming. The town clock, in the centre 
of the city, is quite a curiosity. A minute before the clock 
strikes, a wooden cock, by the side of it, crows and flaps its 
wings ; and while a puppet strikes the hour on a bell, a pro- 
cession of bears issues out and passes in front of a figure up- 
on a throne, who marks the hour by gaping and by lowering 
his sceptre. They indulge here in a curious partiality for 
4 



62 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

bears. Images of this animal are seen everywhere. It is 
a favorite device, and is the armorial bearing of the canton. 
Outside one of the gates, two bears are to be found, living 
at public expense. Quite a large place of solid masonry is 
built up for their comfort. It would be quite a slight to omit 
visiting " Barengraben," as it is called. For hundreds of 
years bears have been kept at public charge. When the 
French army took possession of Berne, in 1798, the bears 
were led away captive, and deposited in the " Jardin des 
Plantes." But when, after a time, matters were settled, 
the bears were sent for, and provided for as before. Per- 
haps the Bear is looked upon as the tutelar deity of the city, 
At Berne, we found Dr. Hitchcock, President of Amherst 
College, and his lady, and in company with them we left for 
Geneva and Mont Blancv 



LETTER NO. VIII 



Spending a Sabbath in Berne, we took a Diligence from 
there to Vevay on Monday. The Diligence is unlike any 
public conveyance we have in America ; it is a great, lum- 
bering vehicle, which, on account of its clumsiness, rolls 
lazily along. It is divided into several compartments, viz: 
The "coupee," " l'interieur," "le banquette," "i'imperinle," 
and "le rotonde." The "coupee" is the most desirable; 
it will hold three persons, and being exactly behind and 
below the drivers' seat, with an open front, you have a fine 
view of the country as you pass along. The seats in this 



LETTER NO. VIII. 63 

compartment are somewhat higher in price than the others. 
The " interieur" is the middle division, "le rotonde" is the 
last, and the "banquette" and "imperiale" are on top. All 
these divisions will hold sixteen or eighteen persons. They 
often attach three horses abreast, in front of the wheel 
horses, and sometimes, in ascending a hill, they put on a 
pair of oxen ahead of all. These horses have bells about 
their necks, as with us in sleigh-riding. Beside the driver, 
there is a conductor, who carries the passengers' passports, 
attends to the baggage and other matters, and there is often 
a postillion, who rides one of the front horses. We passed 
through Freyburg and Bulle — the former of which is noted 
for its Suspension Bridge, the longest of a single curve in 
the world — and it has one of the finest organs in Europe, 
built by the late Aloys Mooser, a native of Freyburg. It 
has sixty-four stops, and seventy-eight hundred pipes, some 
of them thirty-two feet long. By paying eleven francs for 
a party, you may have an opportunity to hear it. The town 
has eight or ten thousand inhabitants. The country, from 
Berne to Freyburg, is mostly a grazing country; we saw 
scarcely any vineyards. 

We did not reach Vevay till eight or nine in the evening; 
but it was moonlight, and so beautiful did our winding way 
among the hills and vineyards seem, down to the bright and 
calm Lake of Geneva which lay at our feet, that we talked 
seriously about turning back the next morning, eight or ten 
miles, to have another and a day-light view of the same 
scene. But, as our time was limited, we finally concluded 
to take a small steamer the next morning from Vevay to 
Geneva, a distance of fifty-five miles. Vevay is a beautiful 
little town, located on the east end of Lake Geneva, and 
the city of Geneva is situated at its western extremity, 
where the Rhone issues out of it. Vevay is famous for its 
vineyards and wines. I never saw more delicious grapes. 



64 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

It was a calm, bright day ; the sky was cloudless, and we 
enjoyed the trip exceedingly. Our view of Mont Blanc, 
though at a distance of sixty miles, was magnificent. We 
were told by those on board, who had often traversed the 
Lake, that we were peculiarly fortunate, as so clear and fine 
a view was seldom obtained. We could scarcely believe 
ourselves to be more than ten miles from its base, so dis- 
tinctly did it stand before us in all its snowy beauty, among 
the green hills of the Alpine range. On our right, were 
the towns of Lausanne, Coppet, Ferney, &c. At Lausanne, 
Gibbon wrote his History of Rome. At Coppet, we saw 
the chateau of Madame de Steel. Ferney, about five miles 
from Geneva, was, for twenty years, the residence of Vol- 
taire ; and two of the rooms which he occupied are still pre- 
served as he left them, even to the curtains of his bed, 
which, it is said, are fast disappearing, from the depredations 
of visitors. The place where Lord Byron wrote some of 
his works was pointed out to us also. Geneva is a beautiful 
place, containing about thirty thousand inhabitants. It is, 
as every one knows, a famous place for watches, musical 
boxes, &c. • It is said that three thousand people are enga- 
ged in watch-making. Here Rousseau was born, and Calvin 
lived and labored for many years and was buried, and Sir 
Humphrey Davy died and was buried in the Cemetery of 
the Plain Palais. No stone marks the grave of Calvin. 
He forbade the Genevese to erect any monument to his 
memory, and the site of his grave is not known with any 
certainty. The Naturalist, Saussure, also, who was the first 
to ascend Mont Blanc, was born here ; and, at the present 
day, it is the residence of Merle D'Aubigny, author of the 
History of the Reformation. By the way, he is called Dr. 
Merle here, D'Aubigny being his assumed name as a writer. 
We visited John Calvin's house, No. 116 Rue des Cha- 
noines, and we loitered about a long time in St. Peter's 



LETTER NO. VIII. 65 

Church, whose walls had so often echoed to his eloquent 
appeals. Some alterations have taken place in the Church 
since his day, but much of it remains just as he left it. 
The old-fashioned sounding board which hung over his head 
in the pulpit, hangs there still. Families live here in tiers, 
as they do in Frankfort. We took dinner with a Professor 
in a Seminary here, who lives in the fifth story. We were 
obliged to go up one hundred and twenty stairs to the parlor. 

The surveillance that is exercised on the Continent, over 
all the people, we have no conception of in our own country. 
Even the native inhabitants cannot go from town to town 
without permission, and their passports are as essential to 
their well-being, and as rigidly scrutinized, as those of 
travelers. Foreign residents are more strictly watched still. 
One gentleman told us, that in getting his passport arranged 
to leave Geneva for a few weeks only, he happened to see 
a minute of his most trifling movements recorded by his 
name in the books of the Bureau, some of which he sup- 
posed were known only to himself and family, as they con- 
cerned no one else. Our genllemen, Dr. Hitchcock and 
Mr. Billiard, called on Rev. Dr. Merle and Rev. Dr. Malan. 
The latter is quite a patriarch, with white flowing locks ; he 
received them in a very kind and affectionate manner, and 
on parting, did not even omit the apostolic kiss. Two of 
his daughters are recently married to American clergymen, 
one a Rev. Mr. Hall, of Connecticut, and the other, Rev. 
Mr. Fletcher, Chaplain to the Seamen at Rio Janeiro. 

We were shown, at Geneva, some enormous granite 
boulders, transported from the Alps, two of which, a little 
distance beyond the port of Geneva, project above the water 
from the bed of the Lake. They are called "Pierres de 
Niton" Tradition says they were used as altars to Nep- 
tune. They are hollowed out, and instruments of sacrifice 
have been found near them. After spending two days in 



66 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Geneva, we took a "voiture" to Chamouny, a little town 
lying at the foot of Mont Blanc, a distance of fifty-four 
miles. We had taken every precaution to have our pass- 
ports " en regie," as it is called. Had obtained the vise of 
the Police and of the Sardinian Minister, for the last of 
which we had to pay four francs. When we reached the 
boundary of Savoy, we were stopped and the passports 
demanded and vised again, and in a few rods farther, 
another police officer stepped up to the carriage and deman- 
ded a look at our passports. A gentleman who was behind 
us, in the Diligence, and had paid his passage to Chamouny, 
but had come without his passport from Geneva, thinking it 
unimportant for so short a distance, was not permitted to go 
on, and was obliged to return and lose the money he had 
paid for his passage. 

Our ride to Chamouny would have been charming, had 
not our path been beset with beggars. So many assailed 
our carriage, that we counted fifty-six applicants in fifty-four 
miles. I never, in any trip anywhere, saw such a system of 
beggary. The houses were very comfortable, and the gar- 
dens and fields about them were thriving and abundant, and 
the children were neither remarkably ragged or dirty, but 
the moment a carriage appeared in view, out came the chil- 
dren to beg, whilst the mother, perhaps, stood looking com- 
placently on at the door, to see how the children made out. 
Almost every woman, and a great majority of the men we 
met in this journey, were afTTicted with the goitre, and so 
horribly were they deformed in many cases by it, that we 
were compelled to turn away our eyes from the sight. In 
several, the tumor projecting from their throats was larger 
than their heads. We were told, moreover, that this disease 
existed throughout this region — that almost every one was 
affected more or less by it; and as we progressed on our 
journey as far as Martigny, to the south of Lake Geneva, 



LETTER NO. IX. 67 

and even farther, we found it more and more prevalent, and 
more frightful in its developments. At Martigny, we were 
told there was a hospital filled with cases of this disease, 
under the care of the " Sisters of Charity." Some persons 
attribute it to the water in this region, and some to the great 
quantity of magnesia in their vegetables, and some to the 
low living and out-door exposure of the inhabitants; but no 
satisfactory conclusion seems to have been formed. The 
water of the Rhone is intensely blue, like indigo, the cause 
of which Sir Humphrey Davy attributed to the presence of 
iodine. Now, as iodine is one of the most approved reme- 
dies for the goitre, how can its prevalence in the waters of 
the country produce the disease ? 



LETTER NO. IX. 

At the foot of Mont Blanc, 
Chamouny, Sept. 9th, 1850. 

We were obliged to leave our " voiture" at St. Martin's, 
some miles from Chamouny, and take a vehicle called a 
" char a banc" a sort of sofa on wheels, in which you ride 
sideways, with your feet hanging nearly to the ground — 
a comical looking affair, but the only carriage, they say, in 
which you can ascend the mountainous region which brings 
you to the foot of Mont Blanc ; but the comfort, conveni- 
ence or philosophy of its construction I had not the wit to 
discover. For the first half mile we could only amuse our- 
selves with our novel and queer mode of conveyance, but 



68 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

we soon found ourselves amid the most wild, romantic and 
beautiful scenery imaginable. Our eyes could scarcely 
reach the heights above us, nor could they fathom the depths 
below. Our path, in some places, was so narrow, that it 
seemed as if one false step would precipitate us into the 
ravine; and then again it was wider, bordered with beauti- 
ful shrubs and trees, venerable enough to have outlived the 
storms and snows of ages. 

As we descended to Chamouny, Mont Blanc, with its 
snowy peak, and the glaciers between the needles or peaks 
around, came full upon our vision. Oh, what a sight ! With 
what anxiety did we wait the developments of the morrow ! 
How earnestly did we wish for a clear and pleasant day, 
that we might ascend the adjacent mountains and get a 
nearer view of the Land of Eternal Snows and the Ever- 
lasting Sea of Ice ! 

The day proved all we could have desired ; it was cold in 
the morning, for there was a frost in the night, though only 
the 6th of September. We started early, taking two guides 
and four mules, to make the ascent of La Flegere, from 
which one of the best views of Mont Blanc and the sur- 
rounding group of "Aiguilles" is obtained. Our company 
consisted of eight. We rode up the valley, about two miles, 
to the hamlet of Les Pres, then turned to the left, and in a 
few moments arrived at the foot of the mountain. It seemed 
nearly perpendicular, and I could discern no path whatever. 
I asked the guide where the road was, and he replied, " we 
must go straight up." My heart sank within me, and for 
a moment I recoiled at attempting such an impossibility ; 
but on being assured that the mule could find a way up, 
with much fear and trembling I commenced the ascent. It 
was very curious to witness the sagacity and skill of our 
mules ; they would go two or three yards to the right and 
then turn and go two or three yards to the left, and thus we 



LETTER NO. IX. 69 

found ourselves ascending by degrees, when, at the first 
glance, it seemed too steep to climb at all. After a while we 
plunged in among the pines and brush, and pursued a wind- 
ing mule-path around the mountain, sometimes not more 
than two or three feet wide, and every now and then our 
mules would hit a loose stone and send it rolling, tumbling, 
thundering down, down beyond all vision, into the fathom- 
less abyss, below; while I often quailed at the idea that a 
mis-step of the mule might doom me to the same fearful 
descent. The gentlemen, who walked, were furnished with 
climbing poles, six or eight feet long, with a sharp iron in 
the bottom, and holding on the mules' tails with the other 
hand, according to the guides' direction, they were aided 
and pulled along up. We cut a ridiculous figure on our 
"winding way," but were amply repaid for our fatigue and 
apprehension by the enchanting and sublime prospect be- 
fore us, when we reached the little house for travelers. 

Just before we reached the top, we were startled by two 
or three reports of a cannon below, which our guide assured 
us was occasioned by the arrival of some traveler at the top 
of Mont Blanc, when it was always customary, on a given 
signal, to announce such an event in that way. With a 
spy-glass, furnished at the house of entertainment on the 
Flegere, we had a view of the English gentleman and his 
guides, who had made this difficult ascent; he was fifteen 
miles distant. He was accompanied by six guides, to whom, 
we afterwards learned, he paid one hundred francs, or twen- 
ty dollars, each; and with mules, provisions, &c, the trip 
cost him two hundred dollars. He went up one day and 
returned the next, but was so exhausted with fatigue that 
he could scarcely speak or move when he reached his hotel. 
This ascent is not only very expensive, but exceedingly dif- 
ficult and dangerous, and is sometimes attended with very 

serious consequences, Some persons have heen known to 

4# 



70 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

bleed at the nose, eyes and ears before reaching the top ; one 
gentleman sustained an injury to his sight from which he 
never recovered ; many, after making the attempt to ascend, 
are compelled from exhaustion to return, and those who ac- 
tually attain its summit do not for a long time recover from 
the fatigue. After feasting our eyes with a most magnificent 
view of those mountains of snow, we descended by the same 
path we came up, which, however, was so painful to me in the 
descent, that I preferred walking ; and on reaching the plain, 
about one o'clock, we sent back our mules and one guide to 
Chamouny, and concluded to go up the Montague Vert, 
opposite, to enjoy a full view of the Mer de Glace. We 
crossed the river Arve, which flows from the sea of ice, and 
has made for itself an archway under the ice, which is a hun- 
dred feet thick above it, and commenced climbing the steep 
ascent by the side of the glacier, where mules never go up 
and travelers seldom do. Dr. Hitchcock, President of Am- 
herst College, and his lady, were of our party. The sun 
came down with scorching power, but we scrambled among 
rocks and bushes for one long hour and then found our- 
selves only half way to the house erected on the side of the 
glacier for the refreshment of weary pilgrims. Two ava- 
lanches of ice and snow came booming and thundering 
down, and as they reached the bottom fell into millions of 
fragments. The noise they made as they first separated 
from the whole mass was like the distant report of cannon. 
We were not in a situation to fear any thing from their 
descent, and, of course, enjoyed the sight extremely. 

You can scarcely imagine how beautiful and strange a 
sight this sea of ice was to us, as we sat down to rest from 
our fatigue. With the scorching mid-day sun upon us and 
the exertion of climbing we were in a glow of heat. We 
were seated on the grass ; around us were blooming wild 
flowers of every variety ; strawberries and whortleberries 



LETTER NO. IX. 71 

we found growing on the mountain side, and trees and 
shrubs of all descriptions surrounded us ; while at our feet 
lay this ocean of ice, extending several miles in length and 
a mile in width: summer and winter meeting together' — ■ 
such a sight as never before had met our eyes. As we 
afterwards stood upon the ice and threw stones down the 
crevices through which the deep blue waters yawned, we 
could hear them thump and rattle down, down to a fearful 
depth, and at last plunge into the water, showing how the 
accumulating snows of ages had added to its immensity. 

Before us rose the towering peaks of other mountains, 
one of which, directly opposite us, with its thousand pinna- 
cles almost touching the very heavens, seemed like a grand 
and beautiful temple of Nature, fit for the Majestic King of 
these wonderful domains — the King of kings and Lord of 
lords. The ascent of the mountain grew more and more 
steep and difficult, and I began to think I must end my days 
there: it seemed impossible to ascend, and almost as great 
an impossibility to return. The guide, however, with the 
help of another, by placing two long poles under my arms, 
lifted me along over the rocks and bushes ; and almost per- 
fectly exhausted, all of us reached the little inn of Mon- 
tague Vert at 4 o'clock. Here we rested and took refresh- 
ment, and then went out to examine nearer this wonderful 
Mer de Glace. Quiet and motionless as it seems, this im- 
mense mass of ice is said to move a foot a day., A rock of 
many tons, on which the names of Pococke and Wyndham 
were engraved in 1741, has in this slow moving process 
been brought on this mass of ice some miles from the place 
where the inscriptions were made. 

After loitering about awhile we returned to Chamouny, 
on foot, by the mule path, on the other side, a distance of 
eight miles. We reached our hotel at 8 o'clock in the even- 
ing, much fatigued, but well repaid for the adventure of 
the day. 
■ 



72 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE, 



LETTER NO. X, 

Milan, September 12, 1850. 

In my last, I gave you a brief account of our rambles 
among the Alps, over " La Flegere and " Montague Vert," 
to the "Mer de Glace." Our next expedition was over the 
"Tete Noire" to Martigny, on our route over the Simplon 
pass to Italy. The "ColdeBalme" has one view which 
surpasses any in the " Tete Noire," but as the general sce- 
nery of the last is superior, we concluded to take the latter 
course. With our guide and four mules, and the same com- 
pany in which we made our other excursions, we left Cha- 
mouny early in the morning ; and after winding about in a 
zig-zag course over loose and dangerous slopes, through the 
wildest scenery imaginable, we entered a tunnel, pierced 
through a rock overhanging a dark and fearful gorge, and 
in six hours after we left Chamouny found ourselves at a 
little cabin, where we dined. We then commenced a more 
difficult and steep ascent, amid dark pine forests and awful 
precipices, which most of us preferred to climb on foot rather 
than on mules. We found the descent to Martigny, which 
occupied perhaps two hours, even more difficult than the as- 
cent; so steep and rocky was it that the mules were often 
obliged to jump from place to place ; but the view of the 
valley of the Rhone from the height, for miles before we 
reached Martigny, which lies at the mountain's base, was 
exceedingly beautiful. This little village is very unhealthy 
and undesirable as a residence, but from its position on the 
high road of the Simplon, at the termination of the car-road 
from the St. Bernard, (the famous monastery of which is 
only ten hours' ride hence,) and the mule path to Chamou- 



LETTER NO. X. 73 

ny, it is a great and constant resort of travelers. The town 
is situated at the junction of the Rhone and the Dranse, in 
a valley hemmed in on all sides by the Alps ; and the village 
has been nearly destroyed twice by an inundation .of these ' 
rivers, once in 1543. and again in 1818. Almost all the 
inhabitants are affected by the goitre. They are exceed- 
ingly dwarfish, deformed and sickly in their appearance. 
In no place that we have visited have we seen a costume so 
unique and curious as here. Their bonnets and head-dresses 
are wonderful. The monks of St. Bernard have their head- 
quarters here in a convent, and at intervals they relieve the 
members stationed at the Hospice of the Great St. Bernard. 
The hotels in Martigny, for so small and retired a place, 
are unusually good. Throughout the continent, you find no 
regular public breakfast table as in our country. Every one 
calls for his breakfast when he wishes it, and pays for what 
he orders, and nothing is set before him except what he calls 
for specially. I could not but smile at one of our " Brother 
Jonathans," who came in one day and said "he would like 
his breakfast." " What will you have, sir?" said the waiter, 
very respectfully. " Oh, any thing," said the Yankee, " it 
makes no difference — I had no supper last night, and I 
want a good breakfast." The waiter seemed quite con- 
founded. "Will you have coffee, sir — and what else?" 
" Oh, yes," said he, " coffee and meat and so on; any thing 
you happen to have" The waiter went off. I did not see 
the end; but I presume the "green" one had quite a bill to 
pay for his breakfast. There is always one public table at 
5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the " table d'hote" as they 
call it in French ; and they generally ask you when you 
breakfast, if you will dine at the "table d'hote" As these 
dinners consume two hours or more, and are so late for a 
Yankee dinner, and moreover so luxurious and expensive, 
we have not often partaken of them, choosing a more sim- 



74 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN ETJKOPE. 

pie repast, consuming less time and at a more seasonable 
hour. We have, however, dined often enough at the "table 
d'hote" to see the mode of "doing up" a dinner in all the 
different countries or provinces where we might be. 

On the continent you are not charged by the day for three 
meals, whether you eat them or not, and for your lodging, 
but so many florins, or francs, or batzens, or lires, or pauls, 
or carlinis, according to the country you are in, for your 
room, and for as many meals as you take, and according to 
what you call for at these meals. Then you are charged 
from ten to thirty cents a day for "services," and so much 
for candles and fire. They will generally bring up to your 
room two flaming wax candles and set them down on your 
table, for which they will charge you twenty cents apiece, 
even if you do not burn them an hour. One gentleman, 
who had for some time been paying largely for his candles, 
found that in a few weeks more, at the rate he had been 
charged, he should have paid $25 for his candles to light him 
to bed. The only way is to tell them you prefer ordinary 
candles, or carry your own with you. It is always best to in- 
quire the price of your room for a day, as soon as shown to it, 
else you will often have a startling price to pay. The peo- 
ple here seem to think nothing is too good for the English 
and Americans, and, moreover, that they are made of silver 
and gold. But I have digressed from the point at which I 
started. I intended to describe a "table d'hote" dinner at 
the little town of Martigny, as it is a good general specimen 
of a dinner in Switzerland. 

When you seat yourself at the table you see nothing be- 
fore you of dinner but your plate, on which is a napkin and 
a piece of bread, a tumbler, wine-glass and decanter of ordi- 
nary wine, (which is as free here as water in our country,) 
and without extra charge, two knives, two forks, and a spoon. 
There is nothing in the centre of the table but the casters, 



LETTEK NO. X. 75 

and every half yard or so up and down the table is a tum- 
bler of wooden toothpicks, or an image of a porcupine in 
porcelain bristling with the same, with which you are ex- 
pected to pick your teeth during the intervals between the 
courses. When all were seated, the order of exercises was 
as follows: first, soup — then the boiled meat of which the 
soup was made and mashed potatoes — then fish boiled — fish 
fried — (each dish passed separately behind us at the table, 
ready carved, and plates changed every time — the dish of 
meat then placed on the table till the next course was served) 

— then came pancakes of some sort mixed with a vegetable 

— then a dish which none of us could puzzle out satisfacto- 
rily, but very common in Switzerland, Piedmont and Italy, 
made of the brains of something or other, fried in batter (I 
expect) — then beef, veal, partridges and roast chickens — 
then stringed beans passed separately — after which were 
peas, then greens, and finally salad and cheese, changing 
plates for each. Thus ended the first lesson. Then came 
pudding, afterwards grapes, peaches, plums, maccaroni, nuts, 
bons-bons, &c. In Germany, they give you soup, fish and 
several dishes of meat, and then pudding, and afterwards 
bring on roast beef, chickens, &c. 

After spending a Sabbath here, we bade farewell to our 
traveling companions, Dr. and Mrs. Hitchcock, who returned 
to Geneva, while we proceeded to Milan. We were so for- 
tunate, however, as to find other acquaintances, two English 
gentleman from Birmingham, with whom we took a private 
carriage on Monday, (as the Diligence left Sabbath even- 
ing,) and traveled as far as Visp, a miserable little village, 
finely situated at the junction of the Visp with the Rhone. 
Here our friends left us, striking off to the foot of Monte 
Rosa by the pass of the Moro, and we took a char-a-banc 
to Brieg, seven or eight miles further, where we spent the 
night at the foot of the Simplon pass. 



76 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

It is amazing to see the shoals of people traveling this 
season on the continent for pleasure. Although the travel 
has been increasing for several years, it has far exceeded 
this summer any previous one. We were repeatedly told 
that more Americans had visited the continent this year 
than ever before. It was quite interesting to examine the 
arrivals at the various hotels ; we found the names of many 
whom we knew by reputation as well as personally, from 
America, who perhaps had preceded us only a few days. 
We constantly found amusement as we rode or walked about, 
in meeting travelers in Switzerland, all equipped in the same 
style, with traveling-bags or knapsacks slung over their 
shoulders, a staff in one hand, and an open guide-book in 
the other, going on a pilgrimage among the Alps, and stu- 
dying out their course and the curiosities by the way. 

The distance from Brieg to Domo d'Ossola is about forty 
English miles, and it takes ten hours to travel the distance — 
seven to reach Simplon, and three to go down the mountain 
to Domo d'Ossola. This day's journey was one of the most 
delightful and exciting I ever made. The Simplon road, 
leaving the valley of the Rhone at Brieg, begins to ascend 
immediately from the post-house, and you wind around and 
around the mountain till, after six hours' travel, you look 
down the valley, and there lies the little town of Brieg, like 
a map, at your feet, just as distinctly seen as when you first 
began the ascent. This pass is certainly one of the wonders 
of the age ; and your admiration of this gigantic enterprise 
and of Napoleon's wisdom, skill, inventive genius, and un- 
conquerable will, is increased by the remembrance that such 
an undertaking was then a novel thing — that nothing of its 
grandeur or magnitude had preceded it. To have an idea 
of its immensity, you must not only know that thirty thou- 
sand men were at work upon at one time, that it took six 
years to build it, and that six hundred and eleven bridges, 



LETTER NO. X. 77 

great and small, are constructed for the passage of the 
road, and that terraces of massive masonry extend for 
miles, and ten tunnels are pierced through the overhang- 
ing rocks, or are built up of stone, and that there are 
twenty houses of refuge for travelers and workmen who 
keep it in repair ; but you must see how smooth and per- 
fect it is in its construction. Its breadth is from twenty- 
five to thirty feet, and the average slope nowhere exceeds 
six inches in six and a half feet. You must look down 
the awful ravines and gorges which it skirts, and up, over- 
head, at the black and bristling rocks which seem to 
threaten you, and at the fearful height from which the 
avalanches come tumbling down, and often carry every- 
thing before them. You must see the Gorge of Gondo, 
which is one of the greatest natural curiosities in the 
world, and see the road wind through it, and you will 
think none but Napoleon could ever have conceived the 
idea of attempting a pass in such a savage place. 4 Our 
travelers, most of them, walked several miles, not that they 
were appalled by personal danger in riding, for the road 
is so wide and safely guarded that nothing is to be ap- 
prehended at this season of the year, but to enjoy more 
perfectly the grandeur and sublimity of the scenery. 

Although early in September, we broke off icicles two 
feet long that had congealed as the water was dripping 
down from the snow-capped mountains above, while with- 
in a rod we picked flowers in full bloom. The Gallery 
of Gondo, or Tunnel, as we should say, is a cut through 
solid rock, measuring five hundred and ninety-six feet, 
and cost immense labor to make it, as the rock is of gran- 
ite. It is said it required the incessant labor of one hun- 
dred workmen, in gangs of eight relieving each other day 
and night, to pierce a passage in eighteen months. " The 
progress of the work would have been still more tedious, 



78 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

had the laborers confined themselves to the two ends ; but 
the engineer ordered two side openings to be made, thus 
working in four places at once. To make these lateral per- 
forations, it was necessary to suspend the miners by ropes 
over the outside of the rock, till a lodgement was effected; 
these now serve as windows to light the interior." Near 
the mouth of this tunnel is a roaring water-fall, carried over 
a covered bridge of beautiful construction, which is quite a 
curiosity. We stopped at the famed Hospice on the summit, 
and were shown about by the Monks, and took a lunch at 
their table. Father Barras, so long the head of the Great 
St. Bernard Hospice, is now removed here. While they 
were taking us to see some of the famous St. Bernard dogs, 
the conductor of the diligence called us and we were obliged 
to hasten away. As we descended the mountain to Domo 
d'Ossola, we emerged into a land of greenness and beauty. 
We found chesnuts and firs, vines and maize, and soon a 
warmer climate, and began to realize that we were in Italy, 
the land of beauty and of song. We spent the night at 
Domo d'Ossola, a small place and not interesting; and next 
day, following the shore of the beautiful Lago Maggiore, 
we passed the famous Borromean Islands, of which we had 
a good view in the diligence. The road to Milan is over a 
monotonous flat, between avenues of trees, extending for 
miles; grapevines are festooned between the trees, and grow 
very luxuriantly. We passed a remarkable cypress tree, of 
great age, said to have been a tree in the time of Julius 
Caesar. It is one hundred and twenty- one feet high and 
twenty-three feet in circumference. Napoleon, in construct- 
ing the Simplon, gave orders that the road should diverge 
from a straight line to save it. Near this tree was fought 
the first great battle between Scipio and Hannibal, called the 
battle of Ticinus, in which Scipio was defeated. 



LETTER NO. XI. 79 

We entered Milan through the magnificent Arch of 
Peace, begun by Napoleon and finished in 1838 by the 
Austrian Government. This is built of pure white marble, 
and is a splendid specimen of architecture. Milan is a 
beautiful city, of which you shall hear in my next. 



LETTER NO. XI. 

Venice, September 17, 1850. 
Milan is a splendid city. As you enter it by the Arch of 
Peace, erected at the termination of the Simplon road, 
through a long avenue of trees, it presents a very imposing 
appearance. A large open space remains in front of this 
magnificent arch, on which Napoleon intended to have built 
one of the most beautiful palaces in the world. A design 
was prepared by Antolini, but only two of the buildings 
planned have been erected. The space intended for a 
forum, is now used for exercising the military. There is 
much in Milan to interest a traveler ; but the greatest magnet 
of attraction is the Cathedral, renowned, world-wide, for its 
exquisite beauty. It is built entirely of white marble, and 
exceeds anything I ever saw. I surveyed it from every 
point of the compass, and wandered over its marble roofs in 
every direction, and wound myself up the cork-screw stairs 
of the different turrets, and gazed, till my eyes ached, at the 
multitude of exquisite statues ; but I was so enchanted with 
the beauty of the exterior, that I have entirely lost all recol- 
lection of the interior of the church, and, indeed, cannot 
remember that I went into it at all. There are seven thou- 



80 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

sand marble statues about it, no two alike, and five thousand 
more are necessary to complete the original design. It has 
one hundred and six turrets, which have fifteen thousand 
points, and thirty-two are still to be finished. It has already 
cost five hundred and sixty-three millions of francs, and 
when completed, will have cost eight hundred and forty-five 
millions. What seems curious to me is, that scarcely any of 
these beautiful edifices are finished. Palaces, churches and 
castles are either in ruins, or half done. I might except 
some that Napoleon finished — for "when he spake it was 
done," and had he carried out his plans here, every thing 
would have been " done up straight," as we say, like his 
Simplon road. 

The paintings and statuary in Milan are very beautiful. 
There are many by Titian, Raphael, Guido, Tintoretto, Rem- 
brandt, Correggio, Paul Veronese, Domenichino, Rubens, 
and others. In the " Santa Maria della Grazie" is to be 
seen the "Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci, which, 
however, has been exceedingly injured by smoke and damp- 
ness. The Amphitheatre at Milan, near the Arch of Peace, 
built by Napoleon, and capable of containing thirty thousand 
people, is quite a curiosity. 

From Milan, we proceeded by railroad to Trevigiio, about 
twenty-two miles; then took the Diligence and reached 
Verona at 2 o'clock in the morning. Here we saw an Am- 
phitheatre, built by the Romans, in the greatest preservation 
of anything of the kind now known. It is supposed to have 
been built about the time of the Coliseum, at Rome. We 
visited, also, the new marble Cemetery, covering several 
acres of ground, and forming a colonnade on three sides of 
a square. Had we remained in Verona two or three days 
longer, we should have had an opportunity of seeing the 
Archduke Charles of Austria review about twenty-thousand 
of his troops ; but, unfortunately, we lost this. At elevenj 



LETTER NO. XI. 81 

a. m., we left Verona by railroad, and, passing through 
Padua, reached Venice at three o'clock, p. m. 

I thought I had seen Venice in so many representations, 
that I knew exactly how it looked; but I have visited no city 
for which I was so unprepared, and which filled me with 
such admiration on entrance as this. I fairly cried with, 
delight. The first view, as it burst upon me, a city in the 
sea, was beautiful beyond all description. It seemed to rise 
out of the water, without any earthly foundation; scarce a 
tree, and no vestige of hill or valley meets the eye. Lofty 
domes, marble palaces, and glittering spires, stood before us 
in the water, as the railroad car whirled us with magic speed 
over a bridge three miles long, from the main land. I could 
scarcely believe my eyes, and I looked and looked again, to 
be sure it was no vision of imaginative beauty that deceived 
me. But, no! there it was — a real city; the far-famed, 
once glorious, but now expiring city of Venice — a city 
whose sun is set! As we landed at the railroad station, we 
were perfectly bewildered with the strangeness and novelty of 
our situation. No carriages, omnibuses, and noisy drivers, 
with whip in hand, assailed us — but long, black, funeral- 
like boats, shaped like a Chinese lady's shoe, pointed and 
turned up at both ends, lay in long rows in the water-streets 
of the city, and strange men, speaking in an unknown 
tongue, insisted upon seating us in this new vehicle. We 
preferred to walk, but looking this way and that, up and 
down, we saw no way of crossing the water, and no side- 
walks even, but the pavement about the depot. So, showing 
the name of the hotel to which we had been recommended, 
we seated ourselves in a gondola and were rowed silently 
and noiselessly up the grand street of the city. In the centre 
of the boat is a little place enclosed, containing seats for four 
persons, cushioned with black, two behind and one on each 
side, with a door so low that you stoop on entering. This 



82 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

caboose is covered with black velvet, and is ornamented with 
black rosettes. So funeral-like is its appearance, that you 
feel as if you were creeping into a hearse. We rowed in 
front of many palaces and splendid buildings, turned many 
corners into narrow canals, and finally landed at a beautiful 
marble palace whose steps, three of them, were actually in 
the water. We entered a large and handsome door, and 
found ourselves in a hollow square, paved with stones, and 
filled with flowers and birds. Ascending another stairway, 
we reached a piazza which Was lined with paintings of enor- 
mous size. Of this hotel, once the " Palais de Grassi," the 
landlord told us the following story: In the palace opposite, 
once lived a young lady to whom a gentleman of Venice 
was deeply attached, and wished to marry. But the father 
of the lady objected to the match, giving as his ground of 
objection, that the young man had no home for his bride. 
The father of the young gentleman declared that difficulty 
should soon be removed, for " he would build a house for his 
son, whose windows should be larger than his neighbor's 
doors" And so the Palais de Grassi was built in splendid 
style and quite eclipsed all the rest in the neighborhood, and 
this lady was married and lived here. But the nobility of 
Venice, where are they now? Exiled, imprisoned, or dead ! 
and these princely halls and magnificent white marble build- 
ings are now used for store-houses, hotels, wine-shops, &c. 
One I noticed, was stuffed from top to bottom with hay. At 
the door of another, surrounded with barrels, hogsheads, 
and baskets of grapes, we saw a man whose trowsers were 
rolled up to his knees, and whose legs and feet were red 
with the juice of the grape. We had often heard that the 
juice of the grape was pressed out by men's feet; we told 
our gondolier to stop a moment, and he rowed us to the door, 
and we went in and found it even so. The grapes are 
thrown into a vat or hogshead, and a man or boy, with 



LETTER NO. XL 83 

naked feet, gets in, and, holding on to the side of the vat 
with his hands, he jumps up and down in the grapes till the 
juice is expressed. He hops out whenever he takes a notion, 
and runs about in the dirt, and then wipes his feet on the 
grass or a board, and pops in again to finish his work. 
This process (it is now the time of vintage) we have seen 
repeatedly. It seems strange to see no carriages and no 
horses, and to hear no sound of a wheel or a horse's hoof. 
The quietness is quite annoying. There are few or no gar- 
dens, and no back-yards to the houses. The front doors 
open to the water, and the back doors into the narrow streets 
between the canals; they are well paved with large, smooth 
flag- stones, and connect with all parts of the city by little 
bridges which are formed like stairs, up and down, over the 
canals, to leave room for the gondolas to run underneath. 
It is melancholy to see Venice as she is, and remember what 
she was. Austria desions tr> Vmmble and ruin this beautiful 

;r to destroy both Milan and 
ing to direct trade and com- 
and build up Trieste on its 
h and influential men have 
already left here. We have seen many marks of the recent 
hard-fought battles here, in the roofs and walls of the 
churches and houses, which are perforated with balls and 
bombs. We have visited the Church of San Marco, the 
pride and boast of Venice. Did not admire it, as a whole. 
It has too much the appearance of a heathen temple, with 
its many domes. It is adorned with numerous paintings, 
and is certainly wonderful for the display of beautiful mar- 
bles of all sorts, and for its mosaics. It has, in all, five 
hundred pillars of various marbles. Here is a painting of 
Ceres, and there one of the Evangelists — a painting of 
Proserpine drawn by dragons, in a chariot, and another of 
the marriage in Cana of Galilee — scripture scenes and 



84 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

heathen mythology all mixed up together. As you enter the 
great door, you observe in the pavement some pieces of red 
marble in a circle, which indicate the precise place where 
Pope Alexander III., and the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa 
were, on July 23, 1177, reconciled through the intervention 
of the Venetian Republic. The Pope placed his foot on 
the head of the prostrate Emperor, repeating the words of 
the psalm, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder." 
The specimens of mosaic, the columns of porphyry, verd 
antique, serpentine, and other marbles of the richest hue, 
the bas reliefs, statues, monuments, &c, are of great beauty. 

The strange mixture of mythology and Bible history, ex- 
ecuted in bas reliefs or in painting, is accounted for from 
the fact that materials and relics from all countries and climes 
were brought together to enrich this church. Every vessel 
that left Venice was obliged to bring back pillars, statuary, 
marbles, or something for this work. The great Campanile 
Tower of St. Marc, which contains the bells, stands separate, 
but near it. This is forty-two feet square at the base and 
three hundred and twenty-three feet high. This is aduined 
with several bas reliefs in marble, and with four statues — 
^allas, Apollo, Mercury, and Peace — in bronze. 

The view from the belfry of the Campanile is very fine. 
Adjoining St. Marc's is the Doge's Palace, or Palazza Du- 
cale ; this we visited. Each side of the front entrance, at 
the head of the superb staircase which leads to it, you can 
see an opening in the wall, like those into which we drop 
letters into our post-offices. These places were formerly 
covered with a lion's head, mouth open, into which all accu- 
sations against any of the distinguished inhabitants of Ve- 
nice were secretly dropped, and which resulted in the imme- 
diate summons and imprisonment, and often secret death, of 
those calumniated. We were taken down by the guide, with 
a lighted candle, to see the pozzi or dark cells underneath 



LETTER NO. XI. 85 

the palace, in which many of the nobles and private citizens, 
for political crimes or imaginary treason, on secret accusa- 
tions, were immured; some were there smothered, and 
others, never again seeing the light of day, were conducted 
over a covered bridge — the celebrated Bridge of Sighs, or 
" Ponte de Sopiri," from their dark vaults to the prison, sepa- 
rated from the palace only by a little street canal. They 
were never heard of afterwards. In this palace, the Libra- 
rian has the splendid Greek cameo found in Ephesus in 
1793, called the Jupiter iEgiocus, and the celebrated Map 
of the World, drawn in 1460 by Fra Mauro, showing the 
surface of the globe as it was then known. There are sev- 
eral halls of paintings, many of which are by Titian, Tinto- 
retto, Paul Veronese, and other great masters. 

The Manfrini Palace, so famous for its pictures, we could 
not see ; we did not visit it at the right time. 

The churches are, many of them, very beautiful. " Santa 
Maria Gloriosa de Frari" is full of fine tombs. Here Titian 
is buried, and a fine monument to his memory is now in 
process of erection at the sole expense of the Emperor of 
Austria. It has been building five years, and is still boarded 
up, so that we could not see it. Opposite his tomb, in 
the same church, is a monument to Canova, the famous 
sculptor — the most beautiful piece of sculpture I ever be- 
held in monumental style. It is a very large pyramid of 
white marble, into whose open doors Genius, Art, and other 
beautiful figures, as mourners, are walking in funeral pro- 
cession. I could have gazed at this exquisite work of art 
for hours. Canova designed and sculptured it himself for 
his friend Titian ; but it has been used for his own tomb. 
I have not time even to name particularly the numerous 
paintings, statues and frescos which deserve notice in this 
elegant church. 
5 



86 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

The "Academia delle Belle Arte" is full of the rich 
paintings of the Venitian School. " The Assumption of the 
Virgin," by Titian; "Adam and Eve taking the forbidden 
fruit," by Tintoretto; "the Venitian Slave delivered by St. 
Mark," by the same ; " a Portrait of Titian's Mother," by 
himself; "the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple," 
by Titian; and his last unfinished work, "the Deposition 
from the Cross," with many others, are extremely beautiful. 
The churches, paintings and statuary alone in Venice, to be 
viewed as they should be, would occupy several days. We 
went out in a gondola three or four miles to the Armenian 
Convent, situated on an island, founded by the Abbot Me- 
chitar, in the beginning of the last century. The Armenian 
merchants of Calcutta do much for the support of this insti- 
tution. 

In Venice, we were so fortunate as to meet with the Rev. 
Mr. Langworthy, of Chelsea, and Mr. A. Kingman, of 
Boston ; with them we shall go to Rome. The currency in 
Venice affords us much amusement. Every thing must be 
paid for in lires, swanzigers, or centimes, which, added to 
our ignorance of the Italian language, sometimes quite flus- 
ters us. Our chief recreation, when not sight-seeing, is 
reckoning up and studying out our money, and " catching 
fleas" which occupies really more time than you can imag- 
ine. The Italians do not understand the first principles of 
neatness, and the country is as full of fleas as Missouri is 
of musquitoes. Our last business at night, and our first in 
the morning, is hunting fleas ; and all the leisure time we 
can command during the day, we are compelled to appro- 
priate in that way. More anon. 



LETTER XII. 

Florence, September 23, 1850. 

We are sometimes compelled to think that "the chief end 
of man" in Italy is to attend to his passport. Americans, 
who can travel in their own country from "Dan to Beer- 
sheba" without being asked who they are, where they are 
going, or what they are after, cannot fail to be annoyed and 
perplexed with this most farcical of all customs, carrying a 
passport. My companion's ran thus: first, name and age — 
then height, tall — hair, grey — eyes, blue — chin, sharp — 
and so on. Fortunately, he had his passport done up in 
pocket-book fashion, or it certainly would have been nearly 
worn out by this time. That of one of our gentlemen was 
quite ragged, it had encountered so many vises. We were 
told in New York, and by the American Minister in Lon- 
don, that when a lady was traveling with her husband, it 
was unnecessary for her to have a passport, and I often 
congratulated myself upon being able to travel without one. 
When we entered a city, our driver would come to a dead 
halt, and somebody would pop his head into the carriage 
and say, passport ? and when we went out of the walls, 
another would stop us to inquire if it had been looked at in 
the other end of the city ; so that the passport must always 
be at hand for inspection. Sometimes it would be taken 
and carried away, and we would be at our "wit's end" lest 
it should never return, knowing that we were undone with- 
out it. When we had stopped at a hotel and had taken our 
rooms, a servant would open the door and ask for the pass- 
port — for it is the landlord's immediate duty, on the arrival 



88 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

of a traveler at his house, to report him to the Police. Then 
our passport must be vised by the Minister of the next prov- 
ince or kingdom to which we are going, and by the Minis- 
ter of our own country resident in the city we are in, and 
finally by the Police. So much must be done before we 
leave one kingdom or province ; and so soon as we reach 
the boundary of the next one, the passports must be looked 
at to see that all is right, and the luggage overhauled. We 
found baggage so troublesome and expensive, that we have 
long since left all behind but our carpet-bags. In some pla- 
ces you pay for evory pound of baggage you have. 

We left Venice for Padua by railroad, twenty-three miles. 
There we concluded to take a vettura for Bologna, by way 
of Ferrara, five of us in company. There is a great deal of 
highway robbery in Italy, and only two weeks before this, 
the diligence to Ferrara, containing sixteen passengers, was 
beset by four men armed, in mid-day. Only a few days 
since, thirty-five robbers were condemned at Bologna, nine 
to be imprisoned for life and twenty-six to be shot ; but ten, 
being under age, had their sentence commuted to ten years' 
hard labor : sixteen were actually shot the 5th of this month. 

The distance from Padua to Bologna is about eighty-six 
English miles. We made a contract with our veiturino to 
start early in the morning, and to halt before dark. We 
were anxious to reach Ferrara to spend the first night, but 
it was nearly sunset when we arrived at the river Po, which 
divides the Austrian from the Papal territory. After cross- 
ing the river, our baggage must be examined at the custom 
house on the other side, and we had then a few miles fur- 
ther to go. Before crossing the river, the passports were 
called for by the Austrian officer at the landing, and, as 
usual, I remained in the carriage, while the gentlemen went 
in to have them examined. To my great surprise and con- 
sternation, I was called in and told, I could proceed no fur- 



LETTER NO. XII. 89 

ther, as / had no passport. It was in vain he was told I 
had experienced no difficulty in any other place, and that it 
was said to be unnecessary when a family were traveling 
together. He was inexorable. All that he would say to 
our entreaties, was in French, with an Italian shrug of his 
shoulders, " Jest impossible /" " What can I do ?" exclaimed 
I, in French. "Oh, you can go back to Rovigo," he re- 
plied, "and all the rest can go on." We then made another 
appeal. We talked a little French and a little Latin and a 
little more English, and called in another man who could 
talk German and broken English to help us — adding all 
the gesticulations, imploring looks and bursts of eloquence 
which such a dilemma as we were in might be supposed to 
inspire. Whether all this manoeuvre was merely to magni- 
fy his office and make a show of authority, I don't know ; 
but after a while it seemed to enter his perecranium that I 
was the wife of one of the gentlemen, whereupon, after 
making the other two give him a written certificate who I 
was, that I was myself and nobody else, he let us go, and 
we " went on our way rejoicing." It was in this neighbor- 
hood, that a little more than a year since, (February, 1849,) 
Marshal Haynau crossed the Po with 10,000 men, and ap- 
peared at the gate of Ferrara and demanded, in behalf of 
the Pope, the delivery of the city gates to the Imperial troops, 
and the payment of 206,000 scudi, or dollars, in twenty- 
four hours. This sum was paid through the generosity of 
an English resident, and the Austrians evacuated the city. 
We crossed the Po on a " flying bridge " ferry, being 
drawn over with ropes, and drove to the custom-house, 
where our luggage was overhauled, and with these deten- 
tions it was quite dark when we arrived at Ferrara. How- 
ever, we were not beset by robbers. We reached Bologna 
at one o'clock next day. Bologna is the second capital of 
the "States of the Church," and is situated at the foot of 



90 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

the Appenines. It has a population of seventy thousand. 
There is much of interest here in its churches, and there 
are many excellent paintings. Bologna has been celebrated 
for its University; it enjoyed a greater reputation formerly 
than it does now. It is the oldest in Italy, and has had one 
peculiarity — that of learned female Professors. In the 
fourteenth century, Novella d'Andrea used often to occupy 
her father's chair. It is said she was very beautiful, and, 
lest the attention of the students should be more absorbed in 
the lecturer than the lecture, a curtain was drawn before her. 
Moore, in alluding to this, says: 

« drawn before her 



Lest, if her charms were seen, the students 
Should let their young eyes wander o'er her, 
And quite forget their jurisprudence." 

Laura Bassi was once Professor of Mathematics and 
Natural History here. She received the title of L. L. D., 
and her lectures were attended by ladies of France and 
Germany, who were members of the institution. Madonna 
Manzolini graduated in Surgery, and was Professor of 
Anatomy; and in our own times, the Greek chair was filled 
by JVfatilda Tambroni. 

As you leave Bologna, you have a fine view of the mag- 
nificent Colonnade, extending three miles from the gate 
called La Porta di Saragozza, to the church of the Madon- 
na di S. Luca, on a mountain out of the city. We traveled 
by diligence over the Appenines to Florence. It was a de- 
lightful day, and the scenery was truly enchanting. The 
Appenines separate the Plains of Lombardy from Tuscan)''. 
In order to have a full view of the country, we took our 
seats in the " imperial " of the diligence. The mountains 
have nothing of the grandeur and boldness of the Alps, but 
they are picturesque and beautiful. The road, though very 



LETTER NO. XII. 91 

good, as all the roads are on the continent, is excessively 
steep in some places. We had three pairs of horses, two 
postillions, one driver, and a conductor, to navigate us ; and 
you may judge of our astonishment, as we stopped at one 
house by the road-side, to see a woman come out of the 
yard, leading by a rope, attached to their yoke, two mon- 
strous white oxen, which she, with perfect self-possession, 
hitched on ahead of the horses, going before the whole team 
herself, still pulling along her oxen by the rope, while one of 
the postillions -occasionally aided her efforts by applying the 
butt end of the whip to their sides. When we had reached 
the summit of the hill, she unhitched her oxen, and receiv- 
ing her pay for their use from the conductor, she returned 
home. In this country women are engaged in all kinds of 
out-door employment. I have seen them ploughing, reap- 
ing, mowing, pitching hay, driving hay-carts, &c. Some- 
times you will see a woman carrying a pail or jug of water 
on her head, knitting as she goes along, and driving a flock 
of goats, all at the same time. 

As we descended the Appenines, we obtained our first 
view of the valley of the Arno. It is one of the most beau- 
tiful sights I ever beheld. Florence with its domes and 
battlements, twenty miles distant, is spread out in all its 
beauty at your feet. Pistoia also, a walled city, is full in 
view, besides innumerable villages and hamlets dotted over 
this immense valley. As we left the mountains for a warm- 
er atmosphere, everything became more luxuriant and beau- 
tiful. Whole fields of olives burst upon our view. Figs 
and pomegranates were growing also in abundance, and 
vineyards covered the hill-sides. We began to realize that 
we had reached " a land of oil and wine." 

The descent to Florence over a fine road is one of the 
most enchanting drives in the world. Owing to the steep- 
ness of the descent, it was necessary to drag the wheels, 



92 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

which became so hot from the friction, that when half way 
down we were obliged to stop and have cold water poured 
on them to prevent the carriage from taking fire. They 
smoked like a cauldron. I do not wonder that Florence is 
called "Farenze la bella," or that it has been celebrated in 
all ages for the beauty of its situation. It contains more 
than one hundred thousand inhabitants. The buildings on 
the banks of the Arno, which runs through the city, are 
grand and imposing ; but the Arno is now sluggish and 
shallow, almost a stream of mud. At other seasons of the 
year it has doubtless a different appearance. The Cathedral 
in Florence is as unique, though not as beautiful in its ar- 
chitecture, as that of Milan. It is an immense building, 
and its exterior is covered with mosaic. It has also a Cam- 
panile, or bell-tower, which is equally curious in architecture. 
The Baptistery near it, was once a temple of Mars. Its 
bronze doors are splendidly executed. It is said Michael 
Angelo, when examining them, declared they were worthy 
of being "the gates of Paradise." The lover of paintings 
will find enough to study and to admire in Florence. We 
visited churches and examined paintings till our eyes were 
dim, and we gazed at statuary till we almost turned into 
statues ourselves. We visited the studios of our country- 
men, Greenough and Powers. The latter has some exqui- 
site pieces of statuary. He was just finishing a bust of Cal- 
houn. He is also at work on a splendid figure, which he 
calls America. It is superb. 

In the church of " Santa Croce" are some very beautiful 
tombs. One is that of Michael Angelo, and another, which 
struck me as the finest of any I had seen except Canova's, 
was that of the Polish Countess Lamoiska, by Bartoline. 
The stained glass in the churches of Florence is very 
beautiful. 



LETTER NO. XII. 93 

The church of San Lorenzo contains in the " Capella del 
Deponti" some few monuments of rare beauty, erected to 
the Medici family ; and the Medicean Chapel, which is back 
of the choir and yet unfinished, is unlike anything I have 
yet seen. It contains perhaps a dozen tombs only. The 
entire walls of the room, which is quite large, are covered 
with the richest marbles and precious stones — jasper, chal- 
cedony, agate, lapis lazuli, verd antique, and others still 
more rich and costly. 

The richest and most varied collection of paintings in the 
world is in the " Gallerie Imperiale e Reale." The " Pa- 
lazza Pitti" has also many that are exquisite. The "Boboli 
Gardens," connected with this palace, are some of the finest 
in the world. Our guide told us in imperfect English that 
the extreme cold, last winter, nearly ruined it. He said 
the cold was so great, " it died a great many people and 
nearly half the trees." Connected with the " Palais Pitti," 
which is the Palace of the Dukes of Tuscany, is a Museum. 
The Anatomical Museum is the most complete and curious, 
probably, of any in existence. 

In one of the halls of the "Gallerie Imperiale e Reale" 
is a table of Florentine mosaic so elaborate and beautiful, 
that it occupied twenty-two workmen twenty-five years ! 
There is also the richest collection of cameos in the world 
in this palace. 
5* 



94 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. XIII. 

Rome, September 30, 1850. 

My last letter was written from Florence, a city of pecu- 
liar interest to the traveler. Its local beauty, the healthiness 
of its climate, its superior attractions to lovers of the fine 
arts, and the cheapness of living, all combine to make it a 
favorite resort for people of every clime. Its churches, pic- 
ture galleries, statuary, and mosaics, claim more than the 
hasty glance which the sojourn of a few days only allows. 
Weeks, instead of days, can be profitably spent in Florence, 
in examining its rare works of art. The Florentine mosaic 
is there manufactured in every variety. The most exquisite 
specimens probably in the world are found in the " Gallerie 
Imperiale e Reale." The manufacture of mosaic is carried 
on at the public expense. It is said to be very injurious to 
health, and when the workmen arrive at the age of sixty, 
they receive a pension from government for the rest of their 
lives. This style of mosaic is altogether different from the 
Roman mosaic, the former being made entirely of stones, 
shaded by the varied tints of their natural color ; while the 
latter is formed of a species of glass, artificially colored. I 
saw many elaborate specimens of the art, which had cost 
the labor of a great many years. 

There is no place in Italy probably, unless it be Naples, 
where a person can live cheaper than at Florence. A fur- 
nished room and service can be obtained for three or four 
pauls a day. (A paul is worth ten cents.) The city is full 
of cafes and restaurants, and they are thronged by ladies as 
well as gentlemen. An excellent breakfast of coffee, bread, 



LETTER NO. XIII. 95 

butter and eggs can be obtained at a cafe for thirteen or 
fifteen cents. Many families hire furnished rooms, and 
take their breakfasts at cafes, and have their dinners sent in 
from a " trottoir," or eating-house, and live at a trifling ex- 
pense, without the trouble of house-keeping. Some pay, 
perhaps, eight pauls a day for a parlor and bed-room fur- 
nished, and two pauls a day for " service," as it is called ; 
which includes not only the attention of a servant, but the 
use of table-linen, crockery, &c. When they wish break- 
fast, if they ring a bell, a servant appears and sets the table, 
bringing also a teakettle of boiling hot water, with which 
they make tea on the table, English fashion; and they send 
the servant to buy, or they provide themselves such things 
as they need. These furnished apartments can be found to 
let in London, Paris, Frankfort, and in fact in almost all 
the large cities on the continent. I mention these facts es- 
pecially for the benefit of families traveling with small 
means, or of any young "artist" who may wish, at a small 
expense, to avail himself of the advantages here offered to 
perfect himself in his profession. 

There is a custom here among flower-girls of presenting 
bouquets to strangers, daily, which is peculiar to Florence, I 
believe. The very first day we arrived, a flower-girl, with 
a broad-brimmed leghorn hat, followed us into a cafe, and 
offered each of us a bouquet. Not understanding that it was 
intended as a compliment, we refused. She, however, in- 
sisted on its acceptance, and finally left on the table a bou- 
quet for three of us. One was offered also to a gentleman, 
a stranger, who declined it; but she urged it upon him, and 
finally stuck it in his button-hole. Every day during our 
stay in Florence she met us at the cafe, or sought us out 
in the city, and proffered her complimental bouquet. We 
learned it is a custom, and that no recompense is expected ; 
indeed, it is often refused, if offered ; though, if you remain 



96 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

some time, and are supplied daily, a trifling gift will be re- 
ceived on your departure from the city. 

My expectations in regard to Italy are disappointed in 
two or three particulars. I have not yet found the peculiar 
golden sunsets, balmy air, and paradisiacal beauties, which 
my imagination had pictured from the glowing descriptions 
of Italian travelers. The north of Italy is so much like 
Kentucky and Missouri in the rankness and luxuriance of 
its vegetation, in the majestic beauty of its forests, and in 
its picturesque scenery, that I could not refrain from ex- 
claiming frequently, how exactly the climate and the general 
appearance of things is like the south and west of the United 
States. For the first time, after we crossed the Appenines 
and descended into Italy, since we left the Ohio river, could 
I say that I was comfortably and thoroughly warm. It was 
clear and pleasant weather ; the sky was cloudless, the sun- 
sets beautiful day after day, but no more so than in Mis- 
souri day after day and week after week. I finally came 
to the conclusion, that although Italy was a beautiful coun- 
try indeed, it was no more so than our own country in the 
south and west; and that all the glowing, unearthly descrip- 
tions of "sunny Italy" were written by Englishmen, who 
had lived so eternally in rain, mist or fog, and so seldom in 
their lives had seen a blazing noon-day sun and seen it go 
down in its glory, that it was the most natural thing in the 
world that an enthusiastic lover of nature should go off in 
ecstasies on finding a country with cloudless skies, balmy 
air and gorgeous sunsets. I listened in vain, moreover, in 
this "land of song" for those exquisite bursts of melody 
which have bewitched so many travelers ; but nobody sung 
while I was there. The song even of the gondolier in Ve- 
nice was hushed; but who could sing in Venice now? 

I had expected to find the Italian ladies a peculiar race — 
brunettes generally, with dark, fascinating eyes, and raven 



LETTER NO. XIII. 97 

hair; instead of which, I saw as many blondes as brunettes 
— many very beautiful women indeed, especially in Flor- 
ence, tut with complexions as fair and blooming, and eyes 
as varied as at home. Women, who are exposed to the sun 
and engaged in out-door labor here, have the same sickly, 
sallow hue as those who have suffered from chills and fever 
and exposure to a southern climate with us. 

We found an Episcopal church in Florence, which we 
attended, but their congregation is small, and they have the 
curious custom of demanding of every person, as he enters, 
three pauls, or thirty cents, admittance fee. It is said the 
same policy is pursued in others of the English churches in 
Italy. 

We hurried away from Florence before we were satisfied 
with seeing its wonders, in order to arrive at Leghorn in 
time to take the steamer to Civita Vecchia and Naples. 
The distance from Florence to Leghorn is sixty-one miles, 
and a railroad is completed the whole distance. We stopped 
at Pisa two hours, to visit the celebrated Leaning Tower, 
the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Campo Santo, which are all 
in one group, and are well worth a visit. I was satisfied 
with viewing the Leaning Tower on all sides, without climb- 
ing to its summit, thinking, if it should happen to topple over 
while I was there, my situation would be anything but agree- 
able. It is one hundred and seventy-eight feet high and 
fifty feet in diameter, and leans thirteen feet ! It was built 
in the twelfth century, and it is supposed that the defect 
arises from a bad foundation. The Cathedral is a beautiful 
specimen of architecture, and is very rich in ornaments, 
frescoes, paintings, &c. It is said the silver of one altar 
cost thirty-six thousand crowns. The Campo Santo, or Ce- 
metery, was founded also in the twelfth century, by Arch- 
bishop Ubaldo, and is interesting from the sepulchral monu- 
ments within it, as well as from the circumstances of its 



98 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

origin. Fifty-three vessels, laden with earth from, Mount 
Calvary, were brought to make it. It is said that in twenty- 
four hours, dead bodies buried within it would be reduced to 
dust ! This sacred dust is enclosed by a massive building, 
forming a hollow square. The building itself has now so 
many ancient sepulchral monuments within it, that it is in 
fact a museum of curiosities. 

Leghorn can be reached in twenty-five minutes by rail- 
road from Pisa. We found Leghorn the most busy, bust- 
ling place that we had seen on the continent. It contains 
seventy or eighty thousand inhabitants. It possesses very 
few objects of art, or curious specimens of antiquity. Its 
importance as a commercial city is great, and it ranks as the 
fifth on the Mediterranean, after Marseilles, Genoa, Naples 
and Smyrna. The monastery of Monte Nero, near the 
city, on a hill, is visited by most travelers for its pleasing 
prospect, and also to see a famous picture of the Virgin, 
which for five hundred years has been the object of great 
veneration by the Livornese. It is said the picture sailed 
by itself, in 1345, from the island of Negropont to the shore 
of Ardenya, and that a shepherd, directed by the Virgin, 
found it and brought it to the monastery. 

At Leghorn, we took a steamer for Civita Vecchia, at six 
o'clock, p. m., and reached there at seven in the morning, a 
distance of one hundred and sixty-five miles. The steamer 
was small, dirty and uncomfortable. I was put into an up- 
per berth in the ladies' cabin, without any sheets or pillow; 
and, not being able to speak Italian, I could not get any. As 
usual, I became sea-sick and could not sleep. About twelve 
o'clock in the night, a man came creeping stealthily into our 
cabin, and through a gap in my curtain I saw him peep slily 
into the lower berths, as I supposed to ascertain if their in- 
mates were asleep, and then move carefully to the valises 
and bags, which were heaped together just below where I 



LETTER NO. XIII. 99 

lay. I suppose he heard a noise, as he turned suddenly and 
went out. I was alarmed, and placed myself in a situation 
where I could see every movement. In about half an hour 
he returned and came to my berth, which was an upper one, 
and slowly and cautiously drew the curtain aside. I jumped 
up suddenly and asked him, in French, what he wanted ; at 
which he seemed quite flustered for a moment, and then re- 
plied that he " thought he would come and let me now that 
my little boy was sound asleep." He then went out, but his 
object, doubtless, was to rob us of our watches, and perhaps 
search our carpet-bags. I passed a sleepless night. 

At Civita Vecchia, the process of landing was tedious 
enough. The vessels anchor out some distance from the 
town, and little boats come out for the passengers, and also 
convey all the freight to the shore. Travelers are not allow- 
ed to land till the captain has shown his papers and all the 
passports have been duly examined. We found a quaran- 
tine existed at Naples, which led us to resolve to take a dili- 
gence at Civita Vecchia and proceed first to Rome. On 
leaving town, our luggage was examined twice, first by the 
police and second by the custom-house officers, each of which 
expected two pauls ; then our passport was vised, for which 
we paid one dollar, which, with two pauls to the boatman 
who brought us to shore, and a fee to the porter, made us 
feel that we were called upon to give to every man we met. 

The road to Rome skirts the sea-coast, and for several 
miles we had a fine view of the Mediterranean. It was with 
no ordinary feelings we found ourselves drawing near to 
Rome. Its antiquities, its ruins, its classical associations, all 
combine to render it the most interesting of all places a tra- 
veler can visit, except, perhaps, Jerusalem. Much depends 
on first impressions, and we had hoped to have entered 
Rome by sunlight, and prepared our minds, by a glorious 
entrance within its walls, for a feast of enjoyment in our 



LofC. 



100 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

researches afterwards. Instead of that, the diligence rolled 
lazily along, and it was half-past ten at night when we ar- 
rived at the outer gate of the Eternal City, which was shut, 
and called for admittance. Safe within the walls and the 
gate locked, we were next assailed by the police officers with 
their usual bow-wow-ing, not a word of which we could un- 
derstand but passport, of which the Italians contrive to make 
four syllables. These were all taken away and carried off, 
and receipts given for them ; and then we were driven to 
the custom-house, where our baggage was searched again, 
notwithstanding its recent overhauling at Civita Vecchia, 
and before we reached our hotel it was past one o'clock in 
the night. 



LETTER NO. XIV. 

Rome, October 6, 1850. 

In my last, I mentioned that, although we reached the city 
at ten o'clock at night, we did not get through the examina- 
tion of our passports and baggage, and find ourselves quietly 
settled at our hotel, till between one and two o'clock in the 
morning. We learned, at breakfast, that a great ceremony 
was to take place on this day, which was Sunday, at which 
the Pope was to be present; we could not ascertain exactly 
what it was, but as there was no Protestant service in the 
city, (for the English and American clergymen had not yet 
returned, owing to the unhealthiness of Rome as a summei 
residence,) we hastened away to the Church, that we might 



LETTER NO. XIV. 101 

be there in time to obtain seats. We found the streets were 
lined with people, but we pressed on bravely and reached 
the gate with difficulty. There we encountered four soldiers 
with bristling- bayonets, who resisted our entrance because 
we had no written permission. Amid the bustle, however, 

our friend,. Mr. , contrived to slip in, and walked on 

undiscovered. We, however, stood under the arch of the 
gateway, wedged in by the crowd. To go on was impossi- 
ble, and to retreat as much so — so we stood still and looked 
on. The large yard surrounding the Church was filled with 
soldiers and carriages. The Pope had arrived before us, 
and the ceremony was in progress. We learned, after- 
wards, from persons who were so fortunate as to be within, 
that the Pope first examined a school of young ladies in the 
convent adjoining, inspecting their embroideries and worsted 
work, and also the raw material which they used, (wool, 
&c.,) after which they entered the church. At length, we 
were startled by the booming of cannon, and on enquiring 
the cause, we were told the Pope was canonizing a saint, 
Mademoiselle Maria Anna a Jesu de Paredes, of South 
America. One of the Cardinals, after bowing and kissing 
the Pope's toe, (or rather his scarlet slipper, embroidered 
with gold,) presented,, a petition which the Pope kindly 
granted, and a printed certificate of the canonization is now 
posted in every part of the city — the substance of which is, 
that in consequence of the Pope's earnest prayers and 
endeavors, and the unceasing petitions of God's people for 
many years, and in consideration of the extraordinary vir- 
tues of the lady, her devoted life and great sufferings, her 
beatification was now insured, and she might henceforth be 
reverenced as a saint. After the conclusion of this cere- 
mony, the Pope made his appearance in the balcony " to 
bless the people" which he did by spreading his hands over 
the crowd below and repeating a few words in an unknown 



102 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

tongue, and then entering his carriage with his Secretary, 
several other carriages rilled with Cardinals following, atten- 
ded by the Swiss Guards, who are the Pope's body-guard, 
and the Roman Guards, composed of the young nobility of 
Rome, he was escorted home with martial music. It is said 
the Pope has no confidence in his own people, and therefore 
selects the Swiss soldiery for his body-guard. The stairs 
and porch of the Church were covered with flowers, olive 
leaves, and evergreens, for the Pope to walk upon. As he 
rode through the gate, I had a fair view of His Holiness. 
He is quite a handsome man, and has, certainly, one of the 
most benignant countenances I ever looked upon. All agree 
that he possesses a kind and amiable disposition, and is in 
favor of yielding to all the reasonable wishes of his people. 
Although he is the Supreme Head of the Church, nominally, 
he is said to be ruled himself by others. Cardinal Anto- 
nelli is the secret moving spring of Church and State affairs. 
He is Secretary of State, is President of the Council of 
State, and presides at Cabinet meetings in absence of the 
Pope. He is a tall, slender Italian, with dark, restless eyes, 
whose single glance is so stealthy and insinuating as to betray 
the artful and intriguing character of the owner. Nothing 
can exceed the splendor of the Pope's equipage, and the 
pomp and pageant of his retinue. His body-guard look like 
butterflies. His carriage is covered with gold, and his six 
horses are enormous fellows, black as jet, with gold trap- 
pings ; and the Pope's crown is branded on the left flank of 
each horse ; the livery of the postillions and footmen of the 
whole suit, is exceedingly rich and gay. 

Monday, we started on our peregrinations. Very natu- 
rally, we first sought the Capitol, from which to take a gen- 
eral survey of the city. At the bottom of the stone steps 
which lead up on one side to this building, they profess to 
show you the identical spot where the twin brothers, Romu- 



LETTER NO. XIV. 103 

lus and Remus, the founders of this city, were found with 
their wolf-nurse. From the Capitol, we obtained a fine 
view of Ancient and Modern Rome, and located in our 
minds the seven hills on which it was built — the Capitoline, 
Palatine, Aventine, Ccelian, Esquiline, Quirinal and Vimi- 
nal — and all the prominent points of interest pointed out to 
us by our guide. We saw, also, the Bastions to the left of 
the gate San Pancrazio, on the Janiculum, where the French 
made the first breach, under Gen. Oudinot, in entering the 
city last year. We then descended, and began a more 
minute exploration of the arch of Septimus Severus, of 
Jupiter Tonans, of the arch of Constantine, and the arch 
of Titus, erected to commemorate the destruction of Jeru- 
salem; and we wondered at the splendid bas-reliefs, and 
puzzled over the inscriptions which nobody, yet, has been 
able fully to read. We went up and down and about where 
the old Roman Forum stood — where once walked the 
Caesars and Pompeys — where Cicero declaimed and 
Cataline conspired — and where Caligula, and Nero, and 
Constantine, had plotted and planned, perhaps, and where 
Virgil, and Horace, and Livy, had stood — where Paul, the 
Apostle, too, had, doubtless, often trod, during the two years 
he lived in Rome, "in his own hired house," which spot we 
also visited. It is near the " Palace Doria," and is now 
occupied by the church of San Marcia in Via Lata. There 
is a spring of water underneath this church, which tradition 
says miraculously sprung up to enable the Apostle to baptize 
his disciples. We went through the ruins of the palace of 
the Caesars. The gardens are now partially covered with 
vineyards, and the vine-dressers allowed us to pick and eat 
freely of the grapes; they were the most delicious I ever 
tasted. This palace, once so beautiful and extensive, is but 
a mass of ruins — of walls and of arches — of columns and 
frescoes — heaps upon heaps; the location is exceedingly 



104 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

fine, overlooking the country far and wide, but nothing" 
remains to give you any distinct idea of its former magnifi- 
cence. From there we went to the Coliseum, the most mag- 
nificent ruin I have yet seen. This was commenced by 
Vespasian in 72, and completed by his son Titus, A. D., SO, 
ten years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Many thou- 
sands of the captive Jews were employed in its construction. 
The edifice is of an oval form ; it is one thousand six hun- 
dred and forty- one feet in circumference, and one hundred 
and fifty-seven feet high. I can never describe the feelings 
with which I walked about and finally perched myself near 
the top of this vast ruin, and recalled to memory the scenes 
of its former days. With what sighs and tears, and heavi- 
ness of heart, aid the captive Jews build up this monument 
of their downf all ! Of what scenes of gaiety, and splendor, 
and cruelty, h?s this been the receptacle ! Of what a parade 
of beauty, of vanity, and of folly as well as suffering, has 
this been the theatre ! In imagination, I peopled those seats 
with one hundred thousand spectators, said to be present at 
its dedication, and with them witnessed the games in honor 
of it, which lasted one hundred days. I saw the sacrifice 
of two thousand gladiators and five thousand wild beasts, 
which then took place. I saw Ignatius torn to pieces by 
wild beasts, and the many Christian martyrs who, in this 
arena, gave up their lives. Although I visited the Coliseum 
in the very noon-tide of a bright and beautiful day, it wore 
such a sombre and dreary aspect to me, from the associations 
connected with it, that I had no desire to visit it by moon- 
light, as most travelers do, to add to it the gloominess and 
silence of midnight, the company of owls and bats, or the 
awfulness of solitude in such a bloody circus as this has 
been. Ruin as it is, two or three French soldiers stand at 
its portals, armed; I cannot imagine for what, for nothing 
is seen in its enclosures, or disturbs its awful silence, but the 



LETTEE NO. XIV. 105 

lizards that run up and down its walls, and the few strangers 
that come to look and wonder, and retire, save now and 
then a devotee who comes in to kiss the cross, erected in the 
centre of the arena, under a printed pledge given on its 
transverse piece, in Italian, that whoever shall "kiss the 
cross once, shall have plenary indulgence two hundred 
days." 

Of St. Peter's Church, one of Rome's greatest attractions, 
I can find no words to express my admiration. I have now 
been in Rome several days, and every day I have been in 
once or twice, to gaze and admire. Its grandeur, its beauty, 
its elegance and taste — its architecture, paintings, statuary, 
mosaics, marbles, bas-reliefs, &c, are all unequalled by any 
thing I have yet seen. To give you some idea of its splen- 
dor, it is said that the actual cost of this building has been 
more than three hundred millions of dollars. The annual 
expenditure on repairs, superintendence, &c, is three hun- 
dred thousand dollars. You will be amazed, but it is even 
so. I can scarcely imagine how the interior can be more 
beautiful, but I was disappointed in the exterior ; it is neither 
grand nor imposing. During the siege of Rome, in 1849, 
considerable damage was done to the roof of the Church; 
nineteen balls were picked up about the edifice, and it was 
perforated in eighty different places. Many of the altars 
are adorned with beautiful mosaics, copied from the paint- 
ings of the greatest masters, and you can have some idea 
of the immense work in them from the fact that some have 
cost the labor of twelve and twenty years. We visited the 
manufactory of mosaics in the Vatican, by special permis- 
sion. It is a great curiosity. Above some of the statues 
are balconies, which contain relics held in great veneration. 
Over San Veronica is kept the "sudarium"' or handker- 
chief, bearing the impression of the Saviour's face, which is 
shown to the people during Holy Week. Over St. Helena 



106 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

is a piece of the true Cross, and. over Saint Andrew is the 
head of that Saint, which was lost two years ago, and crea- 
ted a great sensation at the time. I found the following 
account of it the other day, which I will send you : 

" In March, 1848, this relic was stolen from its balcony 
by some one, who was evidently familiar with the internal 
arrangements of St. Peter's. The popular belief was, that 
the Emperor of Austria or the Emperor of Russia had 
something to do with the affair. The Pope was deeply affec- 
ted by the sacrilege ; religious services were ordered, and a 
reward of five hundred dollars was offered to any one, not 
even excepting the culprit, for the recovery. Independent 
of its sanctity, it had a value of another kind, for it is enclo- 
sed in a silver bust, set with jewels, the value of which has 
been estimated at eighteen thousand scudi or dollars. It was 
at last found with the jewels detached, but deposited near it, 
buried in the earth beyond the Porta St. Pancrazio; the 
secret is said to have been revealed through the confes- 
sional; the judicial investigation was, therefore, suspended. 
Pius IX. wept for joy when it was brought and given into 
his own hands. The event was announced to the citizens 
by the Cardinal Vicar. All the bells in Rome rang a joyous 
peal for half an hour after the Ave Maria, the cupola of St. 
Peter's was illuminated, and, by a spontaneous act on the 
part of the people, so was the whole city. Te Deum was 
sung the next day at St. Andrea della Valle and St. Peter's; 
and on tile 5th of April, in the following week, the relic 
was carried from the former to the latter Church, in a pro- 
cession equally vast and magnificent with that of the Corpus 
Domini. All the ecclesiastical orders, religious orders, 
chapters of basilicas, parochial clergy, &c, preceded the 
gorgeous shrine borne by the canons of the Vatican. The 
relic was placed in a glass coffer, on a kind of car, and a 
wide silk canopy supported over it ; after which walked His 
Holiness, followed by the Sacred College, the Senate, the 
Roman Princes, the members of all the Casini, and (a new 
feature in such assemblies) a procession of noble ladies, all 
in black, with lace veils over their faces, and carrying tapers, 
as did the rest. The noble guard, the municipality, and all 
the military in Rome, brought up the rear. In St. Peter's, 



* 



LETTER NO. XIV. 107 

His Holiness gave the benediction with the relic, and at 
night another illumination, both of the city and St. Peter's 
took place, which was still more brilliant than the first.'' 

I was sorry we could not see St. Peter's illuminated ; it 
must be a very imposing spectacle. Just imagine its exterior 
lighted with rows of lamps from top to bottom. It takes 
sixty-eight hundred lamps and three hundred and eighty-two 
men to light them. On the Festival of St. Peter, there are 
two illuminations the same evening: the first called the silver, 
and the second the golden illumination. The former com- 
mences at dusk, and is made by lamps enclosed in paper 
lanterns ; the second is made of iron plates filled with blazing 
tar and turpentine. Precisely at nine o'clock, nine hundred 
lamps are lighted instantaneously, and, in eight seconds, all 
the sixty-eight hundred are in full blaze. These illumina- 
tions cost six hundred crowns. 

On Thursday after our arrival, a great ceremony took 
place, at which we were so fortunate as to be present, which 
was no less than the consecration of several Cardinals, 
among whom was the celebrated Dr. Wiseman, of England. 
I will give you an account of it in my next, 



108 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. XV. 

Rome, October 9, 1850. 
Soon after our arrival in Rome, we heard that fourteen 
new Cardinals were to be consecrated during the following 
week, but notwithstanding all our inquiries, we could not, 
for two or three days, learn definitely when or where the 
ceremony was to take place. Some of the Italians, seeing 
our interest in the matter, made several attempts to ascertain 
particulars for us, but in vain. The people here have no 
means of informing themselves of what is going on in the 
world, or what is taking place among themselves, except as 
the developments are made before their eyes. Among a 
population of one hundred and seventy or one hundred and 
eighty thousand inhabitants, but two newspapers are pub- 
lished, and these quite small; one is the " Giornale Ro- 
mano," official, and the " Observatore Romano," semi- 
official. The people, of course, learn from these nothing, 
except what their political rulers choose they should know. 
" All foreign newspapers, expressing any opinions unfavora- 
ble to the Papal Court, or to any of the branches of adminis- 
tration, are rigorously excluded. All the Democratic press 
of England, France and Tuscany, is prohibited, and even 
journals addressed to resident diplomatists, often meet with 
the same severity." Not a religious newspaper (Protestant, 
I mean,) can be found here. One gentleman we met had 
not seen one for a year, and expressed the greatest sorrow 
at this deprivation. He knew nothing that was transpiring 
in the religious world, except such items of information as 
he occasionally gleaned from travelers. 



LETTER NO. XV. L09 

At length, in a visit to the Vatican, one of the Pope's 
palaces adjoining St. Peter's, we were shown, among other 
rooms, the " Sistine Chapel," and the " Sala Ducale," 
where we found carpenters and upholsterers at work, fitting 
up the rooms with crimson curtains, golden fringes, &c; and, 
on inquiry, were told, in French, that the ceremony was to 
come off there on Thursday morning, at ten o'clock. We 
learned that fourteen new Cardinals had been added to the 
Consistory in the usual private way, but that four, only, would 
be publicly consecrated at this time, as they were not in 
Rome. Dr. Wiseman, of England, was one of the four. 
We were told that ladies, in order to be admitted, must be 
dressed in black, without bonnets. 

Supposing there would be a crowd on the occasion, we 
went early; and were told we must wait in the " Sala Regia,' 
or Royal Hall, until after the Pope had arrived. The Swiss 
Guards and the Roman soldiers, in equal numbers, were 
arranged in and about the " Sistine Chapel and the " Sala 
Ducale," in the latter of which the Cardinals, all dressed in 
scarlet, took their seats in rows on each side. Quite a num- 
ber of priests and monks, of various orders, were also 
present. 

The sound of music was at length heard, proclaiming the 
approach of the Pope, and the ladies, perhaps fifty in num- 
ber, were allowed to pass in, not by the same door as His 
Holiness, and arrange themselves in a low gallery on the 
left of his chair ; and here we had a fine opportunity to wit- 
ness all the ceremonies of the occasion. All the ladies had 
black veils folded over their heads, the ends hanging grace- 
fully on each side. 

The Pope, at length, with pomp, was ushered in. He 

wore his golden mitre and his robe of state. Two Cardinals, 

one on each side, supported him, and some one followed, 

bearing his train. The ceremony of seating the Pope in 

6 



110 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

his Chair of State, was quite an operation. With all due 
deference to the Pope's dignity, I must say I was reminded 
forcibly of scenes I have witnessed in the chamber of an 
aged invalid — when the dear old lady was able, to our great 
joy and delight, to sit up in the easy chair. Two would sup- 
port her to her seat, and smooth her wrapper and tuck her 
up carefully; one would stick up her cap in due form and 
order ; another get a soft cricket for her feet and run for a 
cologne bottle, and others stood by ready for an emergency 
in case she should faint away or tumble out of her chair. 
But, seriously, when his holiness was seated, his robe was 
carefully arranged, his train was disposed of according to 
rule, and a stool adjusted properly under his feet, while two 
officials remained standing by his chair. The Cardinals, of 
whom thirty or forty were present, I should judge, (the 
Consistory numbers seventy-two,) came forward one by 
one, and ascending three steps to the Pope's throne, bowed 
the knee, and kissing first his hand and then each cheek, 
retired to their seats. A short speech was then made in an 
unknown tongue — whether an address to man, or a prayer 
to God, I know not, nor could I learn the purport of it, or 
ascertain the name of the speaker. After this was ended, 
the Pope despatched the Cardinals for those who were to be 
consecrated, and who were, during this time, waiting in the 
" Sistine Chapel." They came in procession, and, one by 
one, the four new Cardinals approached His Holiness to be 
consecrated, separately. Each one knelt and kissed the 
Pope's "toe," or rather his scarlet slipper embroidered with 
gold, then his hand and each cheek. It was a wonder that 
His Holiness survived such an overwhelming manifestation 
of affection, but he did. The new Cardinal remained kneel- 
ing, with his head bowed in the Pope's lap, while His Holi- 
ness read a few words to him, sitting, from a book he held in 
one hand, while with the other he set him apart to his new 



LETTER NO. XV. Ill 

office. When the four were thus duly consecrated, they 
were escorted by the old cardinals, the priests and monks 
also joining in procession and singing with book in hand, 
through the Sala Regia to the " Sistine Chapel," where we 
all followed to see the end. The Pope retired through the 
other door, and we did not see him again. The new cardi- 
nals, after prostrating themselves on the steps, covered with 
scarlet broadcloth in front of the Pope's throne in the 
Chapel, for a few moments, rose and received the congratu- 
lations of their brethren in office by a kiss on the hand and 
one on each cheek. Cardinal Wiseman is quite a fat, jolly 
looking personage; he had a smile or a joke for all who 
greeted him, and seemed to enjoy his honors, kisses and all, 
amazingly. Finding this was the close of the devotional 
and religious ceremonies of the occasion, we withdrew, and 
continued our explorations of the Vatican. I do not sup- 
pose there were one hundred persons present besides the 
cardinals, priests, monks, and other officials. There were 
very few Italians ; the majority were English or Americans. 
On expressing our surprise at seeing so few persons on so 
great an occasion, we were told it was a specimen of the 
present feeling of the people towards their government and 
their religion ; that three or four years ago, twenty thousand 
spectators would have flocked together on such an occasion. 
The Sistine Chapel contains a series of remarkable and 
beautiful frescoes, executed by the most eminent masters. 
One side is devoted to representations of passages in the life 
of Moses, and the other to scenes in the life of Christ. The 
roof of the chapel is also covered with cartoons delineating 
other scenes in Scripture history, such as the Creation of 
Adam, and the Creation of Eve, the Fall and Expulsion 
from Paradise, the Deluge, the Sacrifice of Noah, &c. Op- 
posite the entrance of the chapel is the great fresco of the 
Last Judgment, designed by Michael Angelo in his sixtieth 



112 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

year. It cost the labor of eight years. It was commenced 
at the request of Clement VII. The Pope was anxious to 
have it painted in oils, but Michael Angelo would execute 
it only in fresco, saying "oil painting was fit only for wo- 
men and people who had time to squander" and so he had 
his own way. The fresco is sixty feet high and thirty feet 
broad, and is as curious as it is magnificent. Solemn and 
imposing as such a scene must be, there is such a mingling 
of scriptural and mythological ideas as to render portions 
of it ridiculous enough. The Saviour and the Virgin occu- 
py a prominent position, and our Saviour is evidently pass- 
ing sentence on the wicked. On his right is a group of 
apostles, patriarchs and saints, and on his left a crowd of 
martyrs. Below is the angel sounding the last trump, and 
others bearing the books of life and death. On their left is 
the representation of the Fall of the Condemned, and de- 
mons seizing their unwilling victims; while in another 
place is Charon, ferrying a group over the river Styx, and 
striking down with his oar some of the rebellious. — 
Opposite are the blessed rising from their graves, assisted 
by the angels, &c. Paul IV., who was pope when the 
picture was finished, objected to the nudity of some of 
the figures, and ordered another artist to cover the most 
prominent ones with drapery, which quite offended Mi- 
chael Angelo. So, in the corner at the right hand of 
the picture, Michael introduced Biagio, (who was the 
first to suggest the indelicacy of the figures,) in a cor- 
rect likeness, standing in hell, as Midas, with ass's ears and 
a serpent around his body. Biagio complained to the pope, 
who requested him to alter it ; but Michael Angelo sent 
him word, " that although his holiness could release Biagio 
from purgatory, he had no power over hell : " and Biagio is 
there still, with his ass's ears, suffering the vengeance of 
eternal fire. 



LETTER NO. XV. 113 

The Vatican is the palace of palaces. Its buildings and 
gardens occupy almost as much space as a small city. The 
palace proper has twenty courts and four thousand four 
hundred and twenty-two apartments. The museum here 
requires days instead of hours to see and appreciate its 
curiosities. It contains a vast number of the best fresco 
paintings in the world; galleries of statues of exquisite 
beauty, both ancient and modern ; and an endless variety of 
paintings which have been collecting for ages, halls of ta- 
pestry, and sepulchral monuments and inscriptions without 
end; to say nothing of the variety of curiosities embraced 
in the hall of animals, hall of busts, hall of the Muses, cabi- 
net of the masks, circular hall, hall of the Greek cross, hall 
of the Biga, Museo Gregoriano (consisting of eleven cham- 
bers), gallery of the candelabra, gallery of maps, &c. &c. 
And then there are numberless halls, which contain the 
library, the gardens, and the pontifical armory, all full of 
wonderful things. The gallery of paintings in the Vatican 
contains probably some of the best specimens in the world : 
there are not more than fifty in all, but they are exquisite. 
"The Transfiguration," the last and greatest work of Ra- 
phael; the Communion of St. Jerome," the master-piece of 
Domenichino; "The Crucifixion of St. Peter," by Guido; 
" The Entombment of Christ," by Caravaggio, and " The 
Madonna and Child, surrounded by Angels," by Titian, are 
perfect gems. I visited this gallery twice, but I wished I 
had a week to spend in these four rooms alone. 

There are seven Basilica in Rome, four within the walls 
and three without. They are called Basilica, because they 
have served at different times as the seats of public tribu- 
nals or courts of justice. St. Peter's occupies the spot where 
it is said the Apostle was interred after his crucifixion, and 
where thousands of the early Christians suffered martyr- 



114 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

dom. " St. John Lateran" is the Basilica where the coro- 
nation of the popes always takes place. 

In a vault underneath the chapel we saw the famous Pieta 
by Bernini. It is beautiful, and I cannot imagine why it is 
placed where it is so dark that a candle is necessary, and 
where it is in a fair way to be ruined by the carelessness of 
the guide, who has already marred its beauty by smoking it 
with the candle, as he professes to point out its peculiar 
excellencies. Connected with this church is the " Scala 
Santa," of great renown. It contains twenty-eight marble 
steps, said to have been Pilate's staircase, and to be the 
identical stairs which Jesus Christ descended when he left 
the judgment-seat. No one is allowed to go up these steps 
but penitents on their knees ; and so great is the number 
who visit it, that the edges are protected by boards, which it 
has been necessary to renew three times. Holes are bored 
in the wood through which to kiss the steps and save the 
marble from the touch of polluted lips. One of our com- 
pany, an American gentleman, was so naughty that he ran 
up these stairs like a cat, to the great astonishment and dis- 
may of a poor woman who was crawling up on her knees. 
We, however, went up and came down on the stairs made 
and provided for the impenitent. I had a great desire to 
see a painting kept in the chapel here ; it is attributed to 
St. Luke, and said to be a correct likeness of the Saviour 
when he was twelve years old. Luke, we are told in holy 
writ, was the " beloved physician," but nothing is said of 
him as an artist. Being one of Eve's daughters, I had a 
great curiosity to see his style of painting, and as much to 
know how Christ looked when a boy. But we could not 
gain access. We caught a glimpse of one or two priests at 
the head of the stairway as we were ascending, but when 
we had arrived at the top they had disappeared — like snails, 
they had crept into their shells. 



LETTER NO. XVI. 115 

In the cloisters belonging to St. John Lateran, we were 
shown several remarkable curiosities, among which was the 
mouth of a well called " the well of the woman of Samaria." 
It was of stone, round, and three or four feet high. We 
saw two columns of Pilate's house," and "the column that 
was split in twain when the wall of the temple was rent ! " 
The slab was shown us on which " the soldiers cast lots 
for Christ's garments " — it was of porphyry ; also a slab 
supported by four columns, said to be the exact height of 
our Saviour — six feet ! One of our gentlemen stood under 
it, and the guide remarked that he was just the size of the 
Saviour! Here we saw also an altar-table of stone, an 
inch thick, through which, when a priest doubted the real 
presence, the wafer fell from his hand, and left a hole ! 
But more anon. 



^ ****♦ <i»--^*— 



LETTER NO. XVI. 

Rome, October 12, 1850. 

St. Peter's Church is open at all times in the day, and I 
always found many persons there. Some were praying 
to the Virgin or one of the saints ; others were in devotional 
attitudes in various parts of the church ; while perhaps two 
or three congregations were, besides, in the midst of their 
services in some of the chapels. The rich and the poor, the 
aged and the young, the sorrowful and distressed, here all 
met together. How delightful was the thought to me, as I 
passed round among them, that God knows the heart ; he 



i 16 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

knows who worship him in sincerity and truth; he sees, 
with unerring eye, all those who truly seek him with all the 
heart. I never appreciated and rejoiced in God's omnis- 
cience as here. Walking up the nave or centre of this vast 
temple, I discovered, in a high chair at my right, an image 
of a "black saint" as I thought, and wondering much who 
it could be, I drew near and found it no less a personage 
than St. Peter, in bronze. Quite ashamed of my ignorance 
and stupidity in making such a mistake in regard to the first 
Pope of the Church, I paused to obtain a better view of His 
Holiness. I noticed that every person who passed me, 
stopped before the statue, and, wiping the right foot, which 
is extended, with his pocket handkerchief, imprinted a kiss 
on the great toe. The next comer wiped off the last kiss, 
and gave another. Mothers with babes in their arms, not 
only kissed the toe themselves, but made their babes do it, 
and children too small to reach it were lifted up. The toe 
is partly kissed off; the nail has entirely disappeared. It is 
said this statue of St. Peter was once the statue of Jupiter, 
now changed into an angel of light. We applied for ad- 
mittance into the subterranean chapel, where it is said St. 
Peter and St. Paul are buried. The gentlemen were allow- 
ed to go down, but I was told that "women were not per- 
mitted to see their graves ! " So they left me bewailing my 
misfortune in being born a woman. I however endeavored 
to console myself by walking around the High Altar, which 
is covered with a splendid canopy of solid bronze, supported 
by four pillars, gilded. This canopy cost one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. The altar is exactly over St. Peter's grave, 
and is only used when the Pope officiates in person, which 
is very seldom, and only on great occasions. The confes- 
sional is surrounded by a circular ballustrade, around which 
a hundred and twelve lamps are continually burning night 
and day; they are never allowed to go out. A flight of 



LETTER NO. XVI. 117 

steps leads down to the shrine, and one of Canova's exqui- 
site statues, Pius VI., is kneeling before the door which leads 
into the Apostle's tomb. 

The tribune, which is at the extreme end of the church, and 
opposite the entrance, is said to contain the identical chair in 
which Peter and some of his successors officiated. This chair 
is supported by four colossal statues of the Fathers of the 
Church — St. Augustin and St. Ambrose of the Latin, and 
St. Chrysostom and St. Athanasius of the Greek Church. 

The chapels are all on the side aisles, and the altar in 
each chapel is decorated with Scripture scenes in mosaic, 
beautifully executed. These, with the endless variety of 
mausoleums, statues, bas-reliefs, gilt and stucco ornaments, 
in each, require days and weeks to examine. The pave- 
ment of the church is composed of marbles, arranged in 
different figures, many of them stars, diamonds, &c, like 
patchwork quilts. The piers supporting the arches which 
separate the nave from the side aisles, are faced with thin 
marbles of various hues, as furniture is veneered with ma- 
hogany, &c. It is impossible for any one on entering this 
vast temple to comprehend at once the immense scale of its 
architecture. It is only by comparing its statues with the 
human figures which are wandering about it, and meas- 
uring its pillars and ascertaining its dimensions, and com- 
paring the size of various objects with others familiar to 
you, that you can understand its vast proportions. For in- 
stance, soon after you enter, your attention is arrested by 
two little cherubs, plump and beautiful, holding marble 
vases of holy water. You do not admire the angelic 
beauty of their faces more than the beauty of their pro- 
portions. You are therefore surprised, as you take a 
nearer view, to find these sweet babes are six feet high ! It 
seems quite a long walk from the entrance of the church to 
the high altar, which stands immediately under the dome, 
6* 



118 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

the magnificent and stupendous height of whose vault fills 
you with amazement. The nave of the church, which is 
the centre between the side aisles, is ninety feet wide, and 
it is a hundred and fifty-two feet from the pavement to the 
ceiling in height. 

The whole length of the church from the door to the 
tribune, exclusive of the thickness of the wails, is six hun- 
dred and eight feet. From the pavement to the top of the 
dome is four hundred and five feet, and to the top of the 
cross is about four hundred and thirty-five feet. The four 
piers which support this dome are two hundred and thirty- 
four feet in circumference, the walk around a pier being 
three feet longer than the length of the Planters' House, 
St. Louis, which is two hundred and thirty-one feet front. 
As you look up into this vault from below, your eye is rav- 
ished with the beauty of its ornaments, its mosaics, and 
gilded stuccoes : amid them you discover four medallions 
representing the four Evangelists. They seem in size like 
ordinary portraits, and yet when, in ascending the dome, 
you enter a gallery about midway from the pavement, and 
look about you, you find that they are of enormous size, and 
that the pen even which St. Mark holds is six feet long ; 
and as you look down upon those who are walking, kneel- 
ing or sitting in the chapel, they seem as children in size. 

The first time I entered St. Peter's I had walked some 
distance, when the sound of music, as I thought, fell faintly 
on my ear. I spoke of it to my companions, but they did 
not hear it. Soon, however, it became more distinct, and 
we found as we advanced an organ and full choir in per- 
formance. There were also four congregations at worship 
in different chapels, no one interfering with the other. 

St. Peter's is nearly three times the length of the Planters' 
House. Suppose a hall ran through the house ninety feet 
wide — suppose also, that huge pillars separated the hall 



LETTER NO. XVI. 119 

from side aisles twenty-one feet wide, and that beyond them, 
east of the aisles, were chapels or alcoves next to the outer 
wall forty-seven feet in width, and separated from each 
other by walls, as the rooms now are, only of greater thick- 
ness; an organ might be playing in the south-east room, (if 
you entered the Planters' on Pine street, J in the centre of 
the building, and if the ceiling was a hundred and twenty- 
five feet above the hall floor, you would find it difficult to 
hear it. 

I visited this church many times and at different hours. 
Of course, I could not attend so many services, witness so 
many ceremonies as I did, observe such numerous and fan- 
ciful costumes among the officials, and such strange manoeu- 
vres, without having my mind considerably exercised there- 
by. The costumes of themselves, I should think, were some 
of them the study and work of a life-time. There are long 
dresses and short ones, thick ones and thin, flannel and lace. 
Some of the priests wore very becoming purple robes : these, 
I was informed, were the canonicals of St. Peter's; all dress- 
ed in this style belonged to the establishment in some shape 
or other. Sometimes the services were conducted within an 
enclosure, from which all but priests and monks, and certain 
others dressed in regimentals, were excluded. Of course, 
I was inquisitive to know to what order the white flannel 
priests or monks belonged, and the brown flannel and red 
flannel, &c. 

I wondered much to see so many interesting boys and 
handsome young men, from ten to twenty-five, all with a 
little spot on their heads shaved, of the size of a dollar, and 
was told they belonged to the nobility, and were set apart to 
the priesthood, and were taking lessons accordingly. I pitied 
them as they trailed about from pillar to post, with candles 
taller than themselves, which the little fellows, sometimes, 
from very weariness, held in any but an upright position j 



120 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

it certainly seemed like children's play, walking about in 
procession with blazing lights in mid-day, and reminded me 
of an incident that occurred in my childhood's days, when 
I was left in a room to take care of some little shavers 
younger than myself. In order to make myself agreeable, 
and afford a pleasant entertainment to my young charge, I 
collected all the candles about the chambers, and having 
lighted and ranged them in a circle, we proceeded forthwith 
to have a regular dance around them. One of us, however, 
taking fire in the performance, it became necessary to call 
in the aid of very unwelcome spectators. 

Of what possible use could all these candles be in broad 
daylight ? For the moment, I was of the opinion of Judas 
Iscariot, and mentally exclaimed, as I gazed at the walk- 
ing candles, and the hundreds that were blazing about the 
painting of some saint or other, "Why were not these can- 
dles sold for five hundred pence, and given to the poor?" 

These little boys were as fancifully dressed as their elders ; 
on some occasions they wore scarlet wrappers, and on others 
they had on lace night-gowns. Every thing seemed to have 
"a season" and "a time," as Solomon says. I concluded 
there was "a time" for a black dress," and "a time'* for a 
red one — "a time" for a broadcloth, and "a time" for a 
lace — "a time" to kneel down, and "a time" to get up — 
"a time" to put on a cap, and "a time" to take it off — "a 
time" to turn round one way, and "a time" to turn round 
the other ; but it seemed, as I looked on intently, that it must 
take a wiser than Solomon to keep up with the times. As I 
could not understand anything said by the priests, or know 
when they were praying or talking, I knew not when to shut 
my eyes or when to keep them open ; so I kept them open 
all the time. I knew not either when to stand up or when to 
sit down, so also in this matter I consulted my convenience. 
With all the sensitiveness of a woman, I was greatly annoyed 



LETTER NO. XVI. 121 

at seeing the elegant and costly dresses of some of the offi- 
cials trailing in the dust up and down the steps and through 
the aisles, and had a strong desire to run up a tuck in them, 
or give them a graceful loop ; and I was as much amazed 
as interested at the expertness of some of the young priests 
in throwing up the censers. On one occasion, I became as 
intensely engaged and excited as if I had been witnessing 
the progress of any game of chance, or of cup and ball. 
With chains two yards long, the cup of incense was thrown 
up, and came down each time approaching nearer and near- 
er the heads of the two individuals who were performing 
the office, till it seemed that the next throw must inevitably 
hit their unfortunate pates. With breathless anxiety I 
watched and dreaded the result, when, to my astonishment 
and delight, at the same instant they both caught the threat- 
ening cups with inimitable grace and composure of manner ; 
I then discovered it was an accomplishment, acquired by as 
much practice as fencing or any other art. 

Who could see the elegant lace capes, mantillas and cloaks 
of the priests, (I do not know that I call them by their right 
names,) without examining their texture and following out 
the pattern, and reckoning up the probable cost and utter 
uselessness of such finery in the representatives of our 
blessed Master, "the carpenter's Son," and the "fishermen 
of Galilee!" 

Who could see the frequent and dexterous prostrations of 
the knee before every picture and at every corner, and not 
smile at the solemn and ungainly and ridiculous manner in 
which it was performed by some, and indulge in a momen- 
tary admiration of the ease and gracefulness exhibited by 
others? For my part, I practised this bowing of the knee 
at sundry times from sheer curiosity, and, from my unsuc- 
cessful efforts to master the performance, I concluded this 



122 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

ceremony was as much a study and required as much prac- 
tice as dancing or calisthenics. 

Who can see the statues of Jupiter, Venus, &c, of pagan, 
idolatrous times, in different museums and palaces, and not 
recognize in the statues of the saints and the Virgin the 
same gods and goddesses, under new names? Who does 
not feel as he scours Rome, and gazes at the ruins of its 
idolatrous temples, their bas-reliefs and inscriptions, and 
then visits its churches, that Rome is almost as heathen now 
in its worship as it was in the days of yore ? 

I watched the priests closely to see if they were more de- 
votional than myself, and, in several instances, crowded my- 
self almost up to the altar for a better view. At one time 
I saw the officiating priest in one of the most solemn servi- 
ces, as I supposed, at mass, turn round and angrily repri- 
mand one of the infant priests, for bringing a candle too 
near, or setting it down in the wrong place. On another 
occasion, several very interesting young priests, dressed in 
long golden robes of exquisite workmanship, had occasion 
to kneel, one below the other, on different steps; the one 
behind discovered an unfortunate fold in the dress of the 
other, which he arranged while praying, and then, observ- 
ing an unseemly pucker in his own magnificent robe, gave 
it rather a violent push behind with his foot and straightened 
it out. But with such frequent changes of posture, and such 
constant attention to the minor matters of dress, and position 
and ceremony, what devotional feelings can be expected? 
What can be done with the heart when the hands and feet 
have so much to do ? If the thoughts are wholly absorbed 
with outward ceremonies, what becomes of meditation? 

If the stranger is filled with wonder and admiration as he 
walks up and down, and sometimes loses his way and his 
companions also, in the church below, with what surprise 
and astonishment does he ascend the dome of this magnifl- 



LETTER NO. XVI. 123 

cent temple ! To do this, you must obtain an order from the 
Director of the Fabbrica of St. Peter, by a written applica- 
tion from the Consul ; you have also to pay three or four 
pauls at the foot of the stairs. The staircase is spiral, and 
composed of broad, thin stones, of the most easy and gentle 
ascent imaginable. It is said horses could travel up to the 
top of the church with ease. When you reach the roof, you 
are amazed to find yourself in a little village of shops and 
tenements; for the workmen employed in repairs, live and 
work up here. A fountain is also flowing, and the roof is 
paved with broad flat stones, and you can scarcely believe 
that you are on the top of a building. After you have sur- 
veyed this village, and wondered long enough how people 
can possibly live on the "roof-top," you will, of course, as- 
cend the dome itself, which is not as easy a matter as to 
come up from below. 

I ought to say, that, before you commence the ascent of the 
dome, you must take another look at the statues of Christ and 
his Twelve Apostles, which stand in a row on the front of the 
roof of the church. These statues are seventeen feet high, 
although, as you view them from the ground, they seem of 
the ordinary size. We traveled up to the base of the ball, 
which looks from the street no larger than a man's head ; it 
is, however, eight feet in diameter, and will hold sixteen 
persons. At the bottom of the ball is a balcony, from which 
a view of surpassing beauty and interest is enjoyed — said 
to be one of the finest scenes in Europe. Ancient and mod- 
ern Rome are spread out before you, with the Appenines on 
one side and the Mediterranean on the other. While en- 
joying this delightful prospect, most of our party went up 
into the ball to look out, and we then returned below. 

Farewell to St. Peter's ! Never again do I expect to be- 
hold its like, till I enter the upper temple, "made without 
hands, eternal in the heavens." 



124 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 




LETTER NO. XVII. 



Rome, October 14, 1850. 
The Church of St. John Lateran is the Basilica, next in 
importance to St. Peter's. Here the Pope is always crowned. 
This Church was built by Constantine, and takes its name 
from the Senator Plautinus Lateranus, whose house once 
occupied the site. He is said, by Tacitus, to have been put 
to death by Nero, for having been concerned in the con- 
spiracy of Piso. The place then passed into the hands of 
the family of Marcus Aurelius, who was born near it. It 
was afterwards conferred by Constantine on the Bishop of 
Rome as his episcopal residence, and the Basilica was foun- 
ded soon after. This Church is interesting to the traveler, 
from the fact that five general councils have been held here, 
at one of which, in 1179, the doctrines of the Waldenses 
and Albigenses were condemned. Another was held in 
1215, at which it was said "the Latin Patriarch of Constan- 
tinople, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, four hundred Bishops, 
and the Ambassadors of France, England, Hungary, Arra- 
gon, Sicily, Cyprus, &c, were present." The recollection 
of such events gives deep interest to the place. There are 
many statues, paintings, columns, &c, here, which are very 
fine and worthy of examination. As they profess to be in 
possession of the very table on which the last supper was 
eaten by Christ and his Apostles, we requested to see it. It 
is kept locked up in a little closet, and stands on its side, 
covered with a green baize curtain, which the guide lifted, 
and displayed an old oak table, well worn, about five feet 
long, I should think, and three or four feet wide. 



LETTER NO. XVII. 125 

Santa Maria Maggiore is the third Basilica in rank, and 
is the most magnificent and largest Roman Church dedicated 
to the Virgin. The interior of this edifice is said to be one 
of the finest in existence. One of the chapels contains the 
"holy cradle," or cradle of the Saviour, which is made the 
subject of great ceremony and show on Christmas Eve, in 
which, I believe, the Bambino, or wooden baby, is paraded 
about. 

The Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is the fourth, 
and derives its name from a portion of the true cross, which 
is here deposited, and which is shown on one day of Easter 
week. They have a great many relics here, among which 
are some of Thomas a Becket's bones. 

The Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mure, the fifth 
Basilica, is one mile and a quarter beyond the walls of Rome, 
on the road to Ostia. Here are to be seen the magnificent 
pillars of Egyptian alabaster, sent to the Pope by the Pacha 
of Egypt. We obtained an order from the American Charge 
d' Affairs, and were admitted to see them. They are not yet 
in the places designed for them, as St. Paul is rebuilding, 
having been burnt down some years since. The columns are 
lying in a work-shop adjoining, covered with great care; 
they are, probably, the most splendid specimens of alabaster 
in the world. If I recollect right, they are forty feet long 
and twelve feet in circumference, and each column is one 
solid piece. One of the four columns has, unfortunately, 
been broken. 

Near St. Paul, the guide professes to show you the block 
of marble on which St. Paul was beheaded, and three foun- 
tains which have sprung up where the Jlpostle's head bounded 
three times from the earth. The Basilica of San Lorenzo is 
a mile from Rome, on the road to Tivoli; it contains a great 
many holy relics and the catacombs of Santa Cyriaca. 



126 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

We visited the seventh and last Basilica, that of San Se- 
basiiano, which is two miles beyond the gate of that name, 
on the Appian way, to see the famous catacombs of San 
Calisto, which are entered from the Church. There is 
nothing else in this Basilica worthy of notice. Greatly to 
our disappointment, we found the doors barred and sealed 
with sealing wax. These catacombs are said to extend 
twenty miles. They run in every direction. It is supposed 
these immense subterranean chambers were originally exca- 
vated to procure clay for the great potteries of the ancient 
Romans, but ever since the third century, they have been 
used for burying the dead. Nearly all the monuments and 
inscriptions in marble, that have been found here, have been 
removed to the Vatican, and may be seen in the Hall of 
Monuments. For years, the early Christians resorted to 
some of these numerous chambers to hold divine worship 
and to conceal themselves. It has also been a hiding place 
and receptacle for the many thieves that have infested the 
Appian way. It is considered quite dangerous to explore 
the catacombs, the winding passages are so irregular, and so 
many accidents have occurred. We were told that a teacher 
once visited them, with thirty of his scholars, and was never 
heard of afterwards ! Whether they lost their way and died 
of starvation, or became victims to the bad air of some of 
the chambers, or fell into some concealed pit, no research or 
investigation has been able to ascertain. 

We visited several other churches in Rome, all interest- 
ing from events in their history, or from the magnificence 
and splendor of their ornaments. Among them were S. 
Maria del Populo, built on the spot where Nero's ashes 
were discovered and scattered to the winds; Gesu, the 
Church of the Jesuits, one of the richest in Rome, contain- 
ing, among other things, a silver statue of St. Ignatius, and 
the largest mass of lapis lazuli in the known world ; San 



LETTER NO. XVII. 127 

Vidro in Vincoli, a majestic edifice, which contains one of 
the last works of Michael Angelo, a statue of Moses, whom 
this queer artist has represented with horns, but in spite of 
the comical effect of his horns, you are awed by the dignity 
and authority of the law-giver, and filled with admiration at 
the surprising power of the artist's chisel ; Trinita de Monti, 
above the Piazza di Spagna, with a staircase of one hun- 
dred and thirty-five steps. This contains the master-piece 
of Daniele da Volterra, "The Descent from the Cross" — 
said, by some, to be the third greatest picture in the world — 
inferior only to " Raphael's Transfiguration," and to the 
" St. Jerome " of Domenichino. 

At the Capuchin church, we saw three very fine paintings 
— "The Archangel, Michael," by Guido; "The Ecstacy of 
St. Francis," by Domenichino; and " The Dead Christ," by 
Andrea Camassei. 

Under this Church is the cemetery of the Capuchin Con- 
vent, which, although it is not lawful for a woman to see, I 
had heard so much about it that I found myself, nevertheless, 
in this city of miracles, inspired to attempt an exploration. 

The Capuchin Friars are distinguished by their dress, 
which is a dark brown, loose, woolen garment, worn with a 
rope about the waist, hanging down with long ends; a cowl 
or head-piece is attached to the neck of the garment, which 
is generally worn down, but occasionally drawn up over the 
head. Their heads are partly shaven ; they wear long 
beards, and no shoes or stockings, but a kind of sandal made 
of strips of leather, laced over their feet. 

They seem to have taken the vow of filthiness as well as 
poverty. We occasionally rode with them in the Diligence, 
and met them everywhere in the hotels and streets, greatly 
to our annoyance, they were so uncleanly. As to their 
sanctity, I can scarcely believe there is such a thing as a 
dirty Christian; a real Christian must be clean inside and 
out. 



128 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

This Cemetery consists of four low, arched chambers, 
half above ground, the windows opening- into a yard attach- 
ed to the Convent. The earth in which the monks are bu- 
ried was brought from Jerusalem. We found no difficulty 
in obtaining an entrance to the yard, and were told by a per- 
son who was engaged in repairs, and who probably was not 
aware of the sinfulness of allowing access to lady-visitors, 
to walk in. We found the walls, which were whitewashed, 
covered with, human bones, fantastically arranged in dia- 
monds, stars, fans, &c, made with ribs and finger bones. 
Twenty-four skeletons of monks were standing up, lying 
down, or sitting in niches around the rooms. These skele- 
tons were dressed up in the brown robes of the order, with 
the rope around the waist, while the bony fingers of these 
dead men were seemingly counting their beads or holding a 
book. 

Between the niches were piles of bones six feet high, 
made of the legs and arms of dead monks, a skull now and 
then placed among them to keep the pile even, and give it 
a neat, regular and fanciful appearance. We were told that 
whenever a Capuchin Friar dies, the bones of the monk 
longest buried are removed from their coffin to make room 
for the new occupant, and the old monk is piled up with his 
brethren, bating the few delicate bones which may be needed 
to work into the fanciful designs with which they beautify 
and adorn this strange and revolting charnel-house. 

As there are more than three hundred churches in Rome, 
and most of them rendered interesting by tradition, or valu- 
able productions of art, you can readily perceive the traveler 
may occupy much time in visiting churches alone. 

The time would fail me to tell of all the forums, arches, 
tombs, fountains, baths, palaces and ruins, of nobody knows 
what, we visited. I will only name a few. 



LETTER NO. XVII. 129 

The Baths of Titus are said to occupy the site formerly 
covered by the house and gardens of Maecenas, and subse- 
quently by the Golden Palace of Nero. No one can ima- 
gine what a rush of thought and feeling takes possession of 
the traveler as he walks up and down the long corridors, and 
gazes upon the painted ceilings of which the colors are still 
fresh, and realizes that he is in the palace of Nero, that 
monster of humanity, whose plots of iniquity had their birth, 
perhaps, in these very halls, and whose vaulted chambers 
had echoed, perhaps, to the avowal of his dark, fiendish 
plans. 

We went down into the tomb of the Scipios, in a vine- 
yard near the Porta San Sebastiano, and the Columbarium 
of the Pompeys. These Columbaria, of which there are 
many, are very curious; that of the Pompeys is entire, and 
the objects found in it remain in their original positions. 
You go down into the ground by a flight of stairs, and find 
yourself in a room perhaps twenty feet square. The walls 
of this room are full of pigeon holes, in which urns or 
monuments of various size and shape, but small, are placed. 
I opened one, and took up some of the ashes and fragments 
of burnt bones in my hand. Who was buried here? thought 
I; doubtless a dear and cherished friend, but who mourns 
his loss now? Who can tell whether his death was a gain 
or a loss to the world? And yet, perhaps unknown, uncared 
for, unmourned as he is by all earth's inhabitants now, his 
influence may still be felt, world-wide, and will live on through 
all time and eternity. It is a solemn thing to die and be en- 
tirely forgotten in this world ; but with no home or friends, 
or treasures laid up in another, it is more solemn still. 

The tomb of Cecilia Metella is another monument which 
all must visit, and yet, who was shel All that is known of 
her is, that she must have been wealthy and beloved, from the 
magnificent resting-place provided for her. 



130 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

The tomb of Caius Cestius is built precisely, it is said, in 
the style of the Egyptian pyramids ; it is one hundred and 
twenty-five feet high, and the breadth at the base is one hun- 
dred feet. Although composed of pure white Carrara mar- 
ble, it is now grey with age. 

The Mausoleum of Augustus cannot be visited without 
feelings of regret and indignation at its present condition. 
We are told it " was raised to considerable elevation on foun- 
dations of white marble, and covered to the summit with 
evergreen plantations. A bronze statue of Augustus sur- 
mounted the whole. Round the inner circumference were 
sepulchral chambers, containing his remains and those of his 
family and friends. The grounds around the mausoleum 
were laid out in groves and public walks." The first person 
buried in it was the young Marcellus, who died A. D. 22. 
Here, also, are the remains of Augustas, Octavia, Agrippa, 
Livia, Drusus, Germanicus, Tiberius and Caligula. Such 
is the description we have of this mausoleum. How altered 
now! It is in ruins, grey with age, and wedged in among 
miserable dwellings, where we had much difficulty to find 
it. It has been occupied for a fortress, as an amphitheatre 
for bull-fights, and is now used for fireworks and for exhibi- 
tions of rope-dancing. 

The Mausoleum of Hadrian is now converted into a for- 
tress, the famous " Castle St. Angelo." Here Antoninus 
Pius was buried — Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Septimus 
Severus, &c. The most important prisoners of State are 
confined here, and it is said subterranean passages lead from 
it to the Vatican and St. Peter's. It was in this place Dr. 
Achilli was imprisoned last year. 

The Pantheon is another of Rome's wonders. No one 
can visit this temple without peculiar emotions. Having 
been built by Agrippa twenty-six years before Christ, and 
having been converted from a heathen temple to a Christian 



LETTER NO. XVII. 131 

church, and still maintaining its original appearance with 
very little alteration, (except being robbed of its ornaments,) 
it is certainly calculated from its associations, to be regarded 
with deep interest. It is probably the best preserved monu- 
ment of Rome. The bronze doors in front are a great 
curiosity ; they are the original doors of Agrippa. On the 
outside of the Pantheon, in the frieze of the entablature, is 
the inscription, "M. Agrippa, L. F. Cos. Tertium, fecit." 
Raphael's tomb is in one of its chapels. 

We looked over the Tarpeian Rock, where so many trai- 
tors have been made to leap, and we wandered about the 
Mamertine Prisons, where Jugurtha was starved to death, 
and the accomplices of Cataline were strangled by Cicero's 
order: we were also shown the place where tradition says 
Peter was confined by command of Nero. They profess to 
show the pillar to which he was fastened, and a fountain 
which sprang up miraculously, that he might have water to 
baptize his jailors, whose names, they say, were Processus 
and Martinian. Candles were burning and people were 
praying and worshipping in this dark place. 

We paid a visit to Cloaca Maxima ; and much did I wish 
the fathers of our good city of St. Louis, in whom is vested 
the power to direct our civil engineering, could have taken 
a peep at this stupendous and useful work, which has alrea- 
dy stood, unimpaired, the ravages of twenty-four hundred 
years ! It is a subterranean tunnel, reaching to the Tiber, 
the common sewer of Ancient Rome. It was built for 
draining the marshy ground between the Palatine and the 
Capitoline. Its length is three hundred paces. The blocks 
of stone are five feet long, many of them, and three feet 
thick, and are put together without cement, like all Etruscan 
works. We groped our way over stones laid in the water to 
the extremity of this remarkable sewer, and looked through 
its arches. A load of hay could drive through it in some 



132 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

places. Here we found the Acqua Argentina, a clear 
spring, which some of the Romans think will cure certain 
diseases. We visited, in a ramble one day among the green 
fields, the fountain of Egeria, famed in classic lore as the 
favorite retreat of Numa. It was a wild, retired and beau- 
tiful place, shaded with lofty, spreading trees. Some of the 
statues are there still; one, the river-god, is much mutilated. 
The view of the famous Roman Aqueduct was very fine, as 
we strolled about it in the campagna. I had, previously, no 
correct idea of this stupendous and picturesque work of the 
Romans. A line of arches, six miles in length, is to be 
seen now, winding about the desolate fields of Ancient 
Rome. The water ran above ground in a vast tunnel of 
solid masonry, supported by gigantic arches, twenty feet 
high, or more. The water, for many miles, was carried un- 
der ground till within a few miles of the city, when the 
aqueduct suddenly makes its appearance like an endless co- 
lossal bridge, winding about the city till it reaches and is 
lost to sight in the surrounding wall. 

In my next, we will visit some of the Palaces of Rome, 
and then, bidding farewell to this most interesting city, take 
a three days' journey over the famous Pontine marshes to 
Naples, Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. 



LETTER NO. XVIII. 

Rome, October 14, 1850. 

In a former letter, I made allusion to the Vatican, the 
Grand Palace of the Pope, adjoining St. Peters. This is 
probably the most interesting palace in the world. It has 
been used for more than a thousand years, and how much 
longer is not certainly known. Charlemagne, it is said, re- 
sided here at the time he was crowned by Leo III., in the 
eighth century. Its length is eleven hundred and fifty-one 
English feet — about five times as long as the Planters' 
House — and its breadth is seven hundred and sixty-seven 
feet. It has no regularity or outward architectural beauty 
to recommend it, for it has received so many additions on 
different plans, and undergone so many changes during the 
reign of its numerous occupants, each of whom has pulled 
down or built up according to his own taste, that the most 
you can say of its exterior is, that it is a huge pile. But its 
museums of antiquities and of exquisite works of art are un- 
rivalled. The number of paintings, frescoes and mosaics, to 
say nothing of the relics of past ages that are garnered here, 
is almost incredible. No labor or expense has been spared 
to make this the depository of every thing that . is beautiful 
in art or wonderful and interesting in antiquity. It has, as 
I have mentioned, four thousand four hundred and twenty- 
two apartments, and one of these, the Hall of the Candela- 
bra, is one thousand feet long. Not only are the walls of the 
various rooms covered with rich paintings, but the ceiling 
overhead is adorned with many of the finest frescoes in the 
world. Every scene, almost, described in the Bible, you 
7 



134 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

will here find represented in tapestry, mosaic, fresco or oils; 
and the historical events of ages, with the heroes of every 
age, and the mythological and allegorical figures of classic 
lore, all are embodied before you. In the Galleria Lapi- 
daria, you almost feel that you are walking through a ceme- 
tery. Embedded in the wall on the sides of the room are 
all the marble inscriptions that have been removed from the 
ruined tombs and columbaria, to the number of three thou- 
sand or more. On one side are the Pagan inscriptions, and 
on the other are those of the early Christians, in Greek or 
Latin, many of them originally found in the catacombs. 

I was greatly interested in the Hall of Busts. Here I 
saw Alexander Severus, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Marcus 
Agrippa, Marcus Aurelius, Cato, Septimus Severus, Nero, 
Hadrian, Julia, the daughter of Titus, &c. 

In the Hall of the Greek Cross are two sarcophagi of great 
beauty. They are made of porphyry and are of immense 
size. One contains the remains of St. Constantia, and the 
other the Empress Helena. 

The Library contains manuscripts, Greek, Latin and 
Oriental, to the amount of twenty-three thousand five hun- 
dred and eighty. There is no other such collection in the 
world. The number of printed books is only thirty thousand. 
Among the treasures of the Library is a Virgil of the fourth 
century, with a portrait of Virgil himself ; a large Hebrew 
Bible, in folio, for which the Jews of Venice once offered 
its weight in gold; seventeen letters of Henry VIII. to Anne 
Boleyn, nine in French and eight in English ; several manu- 
scripts of Luther, and numberless other literary curiosities. 

The Capitol contains many very fine works of Art. Here 
is the celebrated Dying Gladiator. It is a master-piece of 
statuary. I noticed also a mosaic, called " Pliny's Doves," 
one of the finest specimens of ancient mosaic. It represents 
four doves, drinking ; and is composed of natural stones of 



LETTER NO. XVIII. 135 

such extreme minuteness, that seven hundred and sixty are 
contained in one square inch. Here, among the busts, I 
saw Titus, Julian the apostate, Antoninus Pius, Plotina, the 
wife of Trajan, and Julia Sabina, the wife of Hadrian; also, 
Virgil, Cicero, Socrates, Seneca, Diogenes, Pythagoras, De- 
mosthenes, Homer, Sappho, and many other distinguished 
characters. 

Rome contains more private palaces, probably, than any 
other city in the world. Some say there are seventy-five. 
They are, many of them, of enormous size, costly and mag- 
nificent, and yet there are many inconsistencies about them 
to surprise the traveler. For. instance, the Palace JDoria is 
very beautiful in architectural proportions and ornaments, 
and yet the lower windows on the street are covered with 
iron bars, giving the edifice a prison-like appearance, while 
hay and straw are peeping out of some of the windows, and 
others are filled with cobwebs, evidently spun many years 
ago, so rope-like have they become from the accumulation 
of dust. These lower apartments, I learned, are used for 
stables, coach-houses, &c. The grand staircase of these 
palaces is often built of marble, and yet so neglected has it 
been, or so has the dust of years marred its beauty, that 
you can scarcely tell the original color of the stone. Many 
of the spacious rooms, containing perhaps a fortune in paint- 
ings, and elegant gilded chairs with crimson, blue or green 
damask cushions, have no carpets or fireplaces, but dark, 
dirty brick floors. I often thought, as I wandered about, 
(and could not help smiling at the idea,) that I should not 
be comfortable in this or that palace. Even the most elegant 
rooms, adorned with the finest frescoes of the greatest mas- 
ters above mentioned — and tapestries around the walls — 
and silk damask curtains so heavy and rich that they would 
almost stand up of themselves at the windows, without being 
hung — and floors inlaid with cedar, ebony, satin-wood, &c, 



136 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

in the most fanciful and tasteful manner, — imposing" as they 
are upon entrance, are so lofty, and large, and desolate, as 
to be absolutely destitute of any thing like comfort. 

A little incident occurred to one of our traveling compan- 
ions, in a very stylish hotel, that afforded me a great deal of 
amusement. The lady was rather delicate in health, and 
very particular about her accommodations. Her husband 
called for a good room, and, having business abroad, left 
his wife to take possession of it alone. It was dusk when 
the servant took up their baggage and showed her to her 
chamber. It was spacious and handsomely furnished, but 
the floor had evidently been just washed, and the room was 
decidedly damp. Her first impulse was to call for another 
apartment, stating her reason ; but, remembering she could 
not make herself understood on account of the language, she 
concluded to wait for her husband's return. She sat down 
by the window — he was gone a long, long time — her feet 
became damp — she grew chilly, and found herself at length 
quite " stuffed up with a cold" — and feeling she was risking 
her life by remaining any longer in so damp a room, she 
returned to the parlor till his return. When he came, she 
told him he must order another apartment; that she had 
taken a violent cold and felt very unwell in consequence of 
remaining there some time, and she dared not sleep in so 
wet a room. He went up to see it with her, when lo, and 
behold ! the floor was so highly waxed it had the appearance 
of being wet! She joined in the general laugh in spite of 
her cold, and her chilliness and symptoms of influenza spee- 
dily disappeared. The floors are often so highly polished, 
that you cannot walk across them without risk to life and 
limb. 

The bedsteads throughout Italy are made of iron, and 
usually painted. It is no small consolation to the weary 
traveler, who knows the lazy and uncleanly habits of the 



LETTER NO. XVIII. 137 

Italians, to feel that his bed is unoccupied by any thing save 
himself. 

In visiting private palaces, as well as any of the ruins in 
these foreign cities, an entrance fee is always expected by 
the " custode ;" a paul, ten cents, for one person, or two or 
three pauls for a party. The revenue from these fees is 
very large. 

The Palace Barberini is one of the largest in Rome. 
Some of the walls are entirely covered with pictures, in- 
tended for the glorification of the Barberini family. The 
celebrated portrait of Beatrice Cenci, by Guido, is to be seen 
here, and the original " Fornarino," by Raphael, besides 
some other paintings of great merit. In one of the rooms, 
we saw Cardinal Barberini himself. The Borghese Palace 
is said to contain the richest private collection of paintings 
in Rome. "The Chase of Diana," by Domenichino — the 
" Entombment of Christ," by Raphael, painted before he 
was twenty-four years of age — his own portrait when he 
was thirteen, and the " Raphael Frescoes," are among the 
collection. 

In the Boria Palace are many beautiful paintings. " The 
Madonna adoring the sleeping Saviour," by Guido — "The 
Repose in Egypt," by Filippo Lauri — among otheis, I ad- 
mired very much. 

The Palace of the Inquisition we did not visit. This is 
used as a prison for delinquent members of the religious 
societies. It was suppressed by the Roman Assembly in 
February, 1849, but is now in full blast. 

We visited a palace now being fitted up in great style for 
the Pope, by himself. We went into the Pope's oratory, 
his sleeping chamber, his private chapel, his reception room, 
and his billiard room, which is elegantly furnished for the 
recreation of the Pope and his Cardinals, when weary with 



138 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

their religious duties. "The Annunciation," hy Guido, the 
altar-piece in the Pope's chapel, is exquisitely beautiful. 

In the Palazzo Rospigliosi is a picture of "Adam and 
''Eve after the Fall," by Domenichino, and a portrait of Cal- 
vin, by Titian. Here also is "The Aurora" of Guido, a 
fresco of great beauty. 

The Villa Borghese, formerly the great park of Rome, 
three miles in extent, in which the Romans were accustom- 
ed to resort on all great festal days, and said to be very 
beautifully laid out, was entirely ruined in this last revolu- 
tion. The entrance is still beautiful and imposing, but not 
a tree in a thousand has escaped the work of destruction. 

There are said to be several thousand Jews in Rome. 
They live by themselves and are walled in, and the gates 
locked upon them every night at ten o'clock. The Pope has 
lately withdrawn all his subjects from their employ, and for- 
bidden any Roman to labor in their families. This is said 
to cause great trouble among the Jews. 

The streets of Rome are very narrow, with no side -walks; 
they are paved with small stones of lava, which is as hard 
as flint. The Corso, the main street of the city, which is a 
mile long, has a side-walk, and is wider than most of the 
others. The Tiber is now very low and muddy. We find 
the inhabitants of the city do not generally return from their 
summer haunts until this time, as it is not considered healthy. 

The first Sabbath we were here, there was no English 
service. Last Sabbath, we attended the Church of England; 
their meetings are held in a room neatly fitted up for public 
worship just outside of the city gates. The Rev. Mr. Hast- 
ings, sent out by the American and Foreign Christian 
Union, has been here since last December, and will preach 
here next Sabbath. He has spent the unhealthy season at 
Albano, fifteen miles distant, and meantime, with the Pope's 
consent, has fitted up a room in the Via de Pontifici for 



LETTER NO. XVIII. 139 

Protestant worship in the heart of the city, near the tomb 
of Augustus. 

Dr. Malan, of Geneva, gave us a letter of introduction to 
Mr. Hastings, which, after some days, was sent to him in 
the country by Mr. Cass, American Charge d' Affaires. 
Imagine our surprise and astonishment, the evening after 
the letter was sent to him, on hearing an earnest tap at our 
door at the Hotel d'Angleterre, which we hastened to open, 
to find in this Rev. Mr. Hastings an old friend, whom we 
had known for years in America, and who, we supposed, 
was still preaching in Western New York. The interview 
was as delightful to him as to ourselves, in this foreign land. 
Immediately on receiving our letter of introduction, finding 
we were old acquaintances, he hastened to town, and reached 
the hotel late in the evening, to give us a welcome. He has 
taken us to see his chapel — "the upper room," as he calls 
it — which he has fittted up in a neat, simple manner. It is 
just finished. The arms of the American Ambassador are 
to be placed over the door. Permission to establish a place 
of worship for Americans, is owing to the influence of the 
American Minister in preventing the Propaganda Fidei 
College from being used as barracks, and the scholars from 
being turned out, during the revolution. The pupils of the 
College have presented Mr. Cass with a very handsomely 
bound book, containing the Lord's Prayer in sixty different 
languages, written by themselves, as a testimony of their 
gratitude for his interference in their behalf. All this looks 
liberal and right. Some incidents have, however, occurred 
within the last few days which savor a little of the Jesuit- 
ism of the Propaganda. Mr. Healey, a brother-in-law of 
Dr. Achilli, is a member of Mr. Hastings' congregation, 
and, during Mr. H.'s stay in the country, has made all the 
necessary arrangements in fitting up the room selected for 
public worship. Since our arrival, Mr. Healey's house has 



140 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

been visited in the evening by eight or ten officers of the 
Police, a part standing outside the door, and a part commen- 
cing a search of his house, opening all his trunks and draw- 
ers, pulling out and opening and retaining such of his letters 
as they chose, among which are Mr. Hastings' notes from 
Albano. They carried off with them his Bible, which was 
the property of his late wife, and particularly valued on that 
account. They ordered him also to leave Rome within a 
given time. On being asked by Mr. Healey the cause of 
this order, they replied that "it was sufficient for him to 
know that his residence in Rome was not desired." A 
Jew, also, who has on one or two occasions received arti- 
cles for Mr. Hastings, consigned to his care, has recently 
been summoned before the Police, and charged with too 
great intimacy with Protestants. On denying that he fa- 
vored the Protestant any more than the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion, as he was a Jew, he was dismissed with a reprimand 
for this time, and such a significant and authoritative com- 
mand "to look out for himself hereafter," as made the poor 
man tremble in his shoes. If Mr. Hastings is to meet with 
such annoying circumstances — if he is openly to be bid 
" God speed" in his enterprises, and privately to be assailed 
with spiritual fleas to embarrass and disturb him, the privi- 
leges and toleration he has received at the Pope's hands 
will amount to nothing at all. 

There are quite a number of English and American ar- 
tists in Rome, whose studios are well worth a visit. Mr. 
Terry, from the neighborhood of Hartford, Conn., has some 
very fine paintings. We found in the Vatican and many 
of the palaces, both ladies and gentlemen copying some of 
the finest paintings. It is a rare privilege to be admitted to 
copy the works of the greatest masters; but any one, I be- 
lieve, who goes through a certain routine to obtain permis- 
sion, can get it. I learned one singular fact, namely, thai 



LETTER NO. XIX. 141 

no one without a regular permission from some one of the 
artists employed by Government, is allowed to sketch any 
thing in doors or out, of God's works or man's. 



LETTER NO. XIX. 

Naples, October, 1850. 

We found on our arrival at Rome, that a quarantine was 
in force, and that no person could go, by land or sea, to 
Naples, under fourteen days after he entered the city. It 
was soon, however, changed to ten days ; but, at the end of 
that time, the diligences were overflowing, and we could not 
all obtain seats for the same trip. The diligences, moreover, 
traveled day and night, exposing us to the malaria of the 
marshes and to robbers, as well as preventing a view of ma- 
ny deeply interesting objects on the route. Our party, at 
length, seven in number, hired a "vettura," a comfortable 
carriage with four horses, having four seats inside, and a 
"coupee" with two places, which, with one seat with the 
"vetturino," afforded us excellent accommodations. 

But we found it as difficult a matter to get out of Rome 
as it was to get in. Nearly a day was occupied in making 
the necessary arrangements to start. In the first place, a 
written contract was drawn up, specifying the vehicle, the 
terms, the time and the service required for performing this 
journey of one hundred and fifty miles. In Italy, verbal 
engagements are not binding enough, and it is necessary to 

be wide awake or you will certainly be overreached or im- 

7* 



142 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

posed upon in some way. The carriage and horses were 
seen before closing the contract, and at length all was ad- 
justed to the satisfaction of each party to the engagement. 
Our contract specified that we should reach Naples in three 
days, stopping every night at dusk. Our "vetturino" was 
to furnish us two meals a day, at good inns ; a breakfast be- 
fore eleven o'clock, of coffee, eggs, bread and butter; and a 
dinner at six o'clock, of soup, two kinds of meat, dessert, &c, 
for ten dollars each. Half the money was paid in advance in 
Roman "scudi," and the other half at the end of the jour- 
ney. The contract, written in Italian, was given to one of 
our party, our captain pro tern., and the duplicate was left at 
Rome. When all this was duly arranged, our next duty was 
to ask leave to depart. We sent to the Police Office for our 
passports, which had been there in safe keeping ever since 
our ar$jkal ; we then went to the American Consul to obtain 
his vise, which cost our five gentlemen ten dollars, or two 
dollars each ; from thence they were carried to the Nea- 
politan Consul and his vise procured, for which one dollar 
was paid; then they were all taken back again to the Police 
to get their vise, for which we paid four pauls more each ; 
and, finally, they were examined again just before we went 
out of the city gate, to see if all was correct. And thus, 
having obtained leave of absence from the Eternal City by 
paying for the privilege, and having notified the principal 
authorities of our intended departure and place of destina- 
tion, we shook off the dust from our feet and departed. 

The day was delightful. We left the city by the gate of 
St. John Lateran at the south. Our road lay over the Ap- 
pian Way, through the rich fields of Ancient Rome, ruins 
on every side. A long line of aqueducts skirted our path at 
a distance on one side, while the tombs on the other every 
few moments claimed our attention. Near Frattochie is 
said to be the place where Claudius was murdered by Milo 



LETTER NO. XIX. 143 

in a quarrel, which is the subject of one of Cicero's orations, 
" pro Milone." We passed the mausoleum of Ascanius. the 
son of Virgil, and stopped to gather some flowers. The 
Pope's summer palace stood off at our left, and the tomb of 
Pompey the Great we saw about half a mile from Albano. 

As we ascended the hill on which Albano is built, and 
looked back upon Rome to take our final leave, we were 
entranced with the beauty of the scene. Here is the place, 
of all others, to see Rome. All its towers and palaces and 
obelisks are in distinct view, while the ruins of old Rome 
stand around in melancholy contrast — a growing, beautiful 
city, and a ruined city, side by side — a city of life and a 
city of death together. The Mediterranean lay at our left, 
as we turned about to gaze at this magnificent and impres- 
sive scene. 

Albano, a city of five thousand inhabitants, is the fashion- 
able summer resort of the Roman nobility. Its location is 
high and healthy, and it is supposed to occupy a part of the 
villas of Pompey and Domitian. Many ruins are still visi- 
ble. Here we breakfasted at eleven o'clock, at a fine hotel, 
originally a palace. Between Albano and Cislerna, where 
we arrived at five o'clock, to spend the night, we passed the 
towns of Genzano and Velletri. The former is a small vil- 
lage situated on Lake Nemi, a beautiful sheet of water five 
miles in circumference, occupying an extinct crater, it is 
supposed. Velletri is the ancient capital of the Volsci, and 
the birth-place of the Emperor Octavius Augustus. This 
was once the favorite residence of Tiberius, of Nerva, of 
Caligula, and of Nero. This city now contains a popula- 
tion of twelve thousand. There is nothing remarkable 
about its appearance. Its location is on the summit of a 
hill and it enjoys a commanding prospect, but it is badly 
built, and its streets are narrow and crooked. We stopped 
for the night, early, at Cisterna, as it is on the confines of 



144 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

the Pontine Marshes, which it is not prudent for travelers 
to enter upon at night. These marshes cover an area of 
one hundred and forty- four miles, but the road through 
them, over which we passed to Terracina, is only twenty- 
five miles in length. This spot was interesting to us from 
the fact, that near here, if not at this very place, stood the 
" Three Taverns" where Paul stopped on his journey to 
Rome, and where he met a deputation from Rome, and 
"thanked God, and took courage." Our hotel was very 
comfortable; we rose early, and without any breakfast 
started off at four o'clock. For several miles we traveled 
over the very road that Paul traversed eighteen hundred 
years ago. 

At La Torre del Tre Ponte, a few miles from Cisterna, 
the Pontine Marshes opened to our view. Curious as I was 
to see this desert, I did not anticipate much pleasure from 
traveling over it, except as it would afford an opportunity to 
see the actual place where the most delightful country 
houses of Augustus, Pompey, Atticus, and other illustrious 
Romans, were once situated, and the occasional ruins of 
ancient walls, aqueducts and fortifications. I was agree- 
ably disappointed to find a level, wide, delightful road, 
built up some feet from the marsh, running straight as 
an arrow as far as the eye could reach, each side of 
which was bordered with magnificent elms, whose shade 
was refreshing, and whose boughs, interlacing far above 
our heads, formed the most beautiful arbor imaginable. 
Through this fine arbor, on a road as smooth as a plank, 
we rode to Terracina. By our side ran the canal called 
the "Naviglio Grande" of which Horace speaks, and upon 
which he went to Brindisi. Not far from Bocca di Fiume, 
west of us, near the Tower of Asturo, was once a little port, 
where Cicero embarked for his country house the very day 
that he was assassinated. Here also was the young Cor- 



LETTER NO. XIX. 145 

radin arrested who basely betrayed the Lord of Astura, 
who had afforded him an asylum. A few miles farther, on 
the sea-shore, at Nettuno, were found those inimitable 
pieces of statuary, "the Apollo," of the Vatican, and "the 
Dying Gladiator,'' of the Capitol. In this neighborhood, 
also, is St. Felix, a little town, where, according to the poets, 
the palace of Circe stood, and the prisons where the com- 
panions of Ulysses were confined. Saw herds of tame buf- 
faloes in this vicinity. 

We stopped at Terracina to breakfast about noon — but 
instead of coffee, as our contract specified, we had wine put 
on the table, and was told there was neither milk nor butter 
in this town of nine thousand inhabitants, "as the cows had 
all gone into the country to spend the summer, and would 
not be home for some time." Here we staid three hours. 

Beside the hotel, a bald, scraggy rock reared its head 
some hundred feet above us, while the deep blue Mediter- 
ranean was sweeping by at its base. I had a strong desire 
to creep up to the top of that marvellous rock and look abroad 
into the world, and imagined if I could but gain its summit, 
I should almost see " all the kingdoms of the world in a 
moment of time ; " but our landlord told us a story, that 
soon cooled my ardor and made me satisfied with a more 
lowly prospect. An adventurous Englishman, some years 
since, succeeded by great effort in reaching this vast height, 
and, having satisfied his curiosity, found to his surprise and 
horror that he could not get down without aid. No one 
knew his predicament, nor could he attract attention. 
Three days and three nights, in the scorching sun and the 
blighting dew, did he wander about on this mountain-rock, 
half starved and half dead with fearful apprehensions, be- 
fore he was discovered and assisted in his efforts to come 
down. So I turned my thoughts to the sea-shore, and 
amused myself with gathering some beautiful little shells 



146 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

washed up on the beach. Terracina was once quite a port, 
but nothing remains now to show it save the rings to which 
the vessels were fastened. A handsome palace was built 
here about seventy-five years ago by Pius VI. 

La Torre del Confini, beyond Terracina, is the last town 
of the Ecclesiastical States. Here our baggage was over- 
hauled, and by the payment of a fee it was sealed and a 
certificate given, which, it was said, would prevent our being 
delayed at the next place, Portello, the first settlement in the 
Neapolitan kingdom. It, however, was only a ruse to ob- 
tain money, and we went through all the formalities of 
search notwithstanding our certificates. 

Fondi, the next city, is a walled town of four thousand 
seven hundred inhabitants, celebrated in history as the place 
where the famous Corsair Barberousse disembarked in the 
night, and attempted to carry off the beautiful Julie Gon- 
zague, widow of Vespasian Colonna, in which he was de- 
feated ; and in his wrath he pillaged the town, and carried 
off many of the inhabitants into slavery. 

The lower part of the walls of this city is said to be older 
than Rome itself. We had not time to stop here, not even 
to see the study of Thomas Aquinas, which is shown to 
strangers. Itri is a small and exceedingly ancient town, 
containing five hundred souls. It was formerly the Latin 
city Mamurra, mentioned by Horace. The remains of the 
Cyclopean walls and of an old temple are still visible, and 
here, as we passed through the town, we saw at a distance 
the tomb of Cicero. 

During this day's travel we saw more poverty, nakedness, 
filth and savage wildness than ever before. Few people live 
on the marshes, but those that do seem to be the dregs of 
creation. From Terracina to Mola di Gaeta we had an 
opportunity to witness the glory of the vintage. Hundreds 
of the peasantry were returning from the vineyards, loaded 



LETTER NO. XIX. 147 

with grapes. The women and young girls carried baskets 
on their heads, filled with clusters of such marvellous size 
and beauty as to call forth our repeated expressions of admi- 
ration and astonishment. They equalled the clusters of Ca- 
naan, in my old primer, brought as specimens by Caleb and 
Joshua — the sight of whose wonderful bunches, in my 
young days, always destroyed my comfort for the time be- 
ing. Donkeys and men were bowed down with leathern 
bottles, filled almost to bursting with wine, and with casks of 
the skins from which the juice had been expressed. As it 
drew towards night, the road became filled with men, wo- 
men, children and donkeys. Oh, the poor donkeys! If 
they did not groan under their loads, I did. Some of them 
were so laden that nothing could be seen of the animals but 
their ears and their tails. They looked like moving masses 
of old bags and tubs. Beside the cabins, mostly built of 
straw, we saw many treading out the wine with their feet, 
hopping up and down in hogsheads cut in two, as we saw 
them at Venice. 

The dress of the people was quite novel to us, and afford- 
ed us much amusement. It is said "rags" form one of the 
exports of Italy. I should certainly think, judging from 
appearances in this part of the country, that they had rather 
imported the article from all other nations. It seemed as if 
the rag-bag must constitute their only wardrobe. 

The grapes here are trained up on upright bamboo sticks, 
with bamboos running herizontally between, to sustain the 
enormous and abundant clusters. Orchards of olives, oran- 
ges, figs and pomegranates abounded. Century plants, 
cacti, cyclamens and flowers in great variety bordered the 
way-side. The scenery of the country grew more and more 
beautiful. Sometimes we rode, and sometimes we walked 
and gathered flowers for our "herbariums," and ate the 
grapes the peasants gave us, expressing our thankfulness by 



148 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

our greediness. We were all half crazy with delight the 
whole day. No part of our journey through Italy had af- 
forded us more beautiful specimens of country scenery, 
more interesting localities, more original and picturesque, 
more laughable or deplorable specimens of humanity. The 
old towns of Fondi and Itri looked as if they were thousands 
of years old, and as if the idea of' "change" had never 
traveled either into the dictionaries or the sconces of the 
people. The fields of olives, containing trees thousands of 
years old, were a perfect curiosity.* I felt I had never seen 
old trees and old orchards before, nor had I any true con- 
ception of the hoary and venerable appearance to which 
trees could attain. Here these old orchards had remained 
centuries unchanged ; and these aged sentinels, what had 
they not endured, from age to age, in pitiless blasts and 
never-ending dews ! They had outlived the armed millions 
that had poured over their hill-sides. Temples, monuments 
and fortifications, destined to last through all time and im- 
mortalize the memory of the great, had arisen around them 
and crumbled before them, and nobody, now living, could 
find their certain history. If these old trees could be made 
to speak, what would they not say! Oh, that they had 
tongues! I almost wished to shake their huge, old, gnarled 
limbs and make them speak out and gratify our curiosity, 
which was well nigh desperate. But no ! there they stood, 
regardless of us and our longings, silent as the dead slum- 
berers beneath the sod, with the secrets of ages locked up 
in their old hearts, to torture, for ages hence, others of 
Eve's curious progeny. There they stood, ever silent, save 
when the passing blast drew forth from their sweeping 
branches an involuntary requiem to ages gone by. 

* Naturalists say that the Olive attains the age of three or four thousand 
years. We are told, it does not begin to bear till it is fifty years old. 



LETTER NO. XX. 149 

Mola di Gaeia, where we spent our second night, con- 
tains two thousand inhabitants, and is in sight of the Gulf 
of Gaeta and the city of Gaeta, where Pope Pius IX. found 
a refuge in the late revolution. From the terrace of our 
hotel, which was situated on an elevated point but a few 
rods from the sea, we had a splendid view of the promon- 
tory on which the beautiful city of Gaeta is built. As we 
stood facing the sea, the sun just dipping into the water, 
Gaeta, with its magnificent peak, Corvo, rose on our right. 
At its summit stands La Tour de Roland, which is the an- 
cient tomb of Lucius Manutius Plancus, and another tower, 
supposed to be a temple of Mercury. At our left, had it 
been perfectly clear, we should have had our first glimpse 
of Vesuvius, to complete the scene. 

At a little distance from Mola is Castelleone, once For- 
mio, in whose environs Cicero was assassinated. 



LETTER NO. XX. 

Naples, October, 1850. 

We found excellent accommodations at the Mola, and left 
at four o'clock in the morning, traveling as far as Capua be- 
fore we breakfasted. We passed Sessa, a town most beau- 
tifully located, and famous in the time of Horace for its 
wines. Capua stands at the foot of Mi. St. JVicolas, a part 
of the chain of the Tiphates mountains, and in the neigh- 
borhood of the rivers Clanio and Volturno. Capua was 
interesting to us from the fact, that here Hannibal dwelt 
among its beautiful hills, and he and his army were ruined 



150 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

by its delicious wines. The old town of Capua was about 
a mile from the present site. The country from this place 
to Naples is beautiful beyond description. The grapes hung 
in festoons from lofty elms. Passed the ruins of an old 
aqueduct, and crossed over a most magnificent iron bridge, 
the finest but one in all Italy. Saw the plough of primitive 
times ; it was quite amusing to see the awkward and labori- 
ous mode of ploughing, compared with our own. Here we 
began to notice a striking peculiarity in the harness of the 
horses. The hames were built up in the form of a pyramid, 
and adorned with a profusion of brass ornaments, and rows 
of little brass bells ; even the country horses were capari- 
soned in the most royal-like manner. The land in the 
neighborhood of Naples is exceedingly rich and level, like 
prairie land, a garden of Eden in beauty. Fields of vegeta- 
bles were as fresh and green as with us in June. 

Naples is the most beautiful city I have seen. As we 
entered its vast gate and drove through the superb street of 
Toledo, two hundred feet or more wide, with most elegant 
houses of four or five stories, built of yellow stucco, I was 
captivated with the splendor and magnificence of all I saw. 
I had forgotten that, next to London and Paris, it was the 
most populous city in Europe ; it contains three hundred and 
sixty thousand inhabitants. After passing the formalities 
of the custom house, we drove to a large, imposing edifice, 
and halted. The military were drilling before us, and formed 
quite an interesting spectacle. Priests, monks, and lazza- 
roni were parading about, and people of all nations, with 
their varied and novel costumes, attracted our attention. 
The city was alive, in every sense of the word. We had 
not seen so much bustle, earnestness and activity since we 
left England. Here we staid a full hour. The gentlemen 
became quite impatient. I was in a state of enchantment, 
and was quite satisfied to sit and look about at the wonder- 



LETTER NO. XX. 151 

ful things which met my eye everywhere. But what could 
have become of our driver? We imagined first one thing 
and then another, till finally it began to grow dark, and we 
became not only impatient, but alarmed. At length, a gen- 
tleman came to the carriage and informed us that our " vet- 
turino " had been arrested ! The carriage and horses also 
were to be detained, and could go no further. Nobody could 
tell us why this had happened ; not even the driver himself 
could imagine the cause. We knew not but we should be 
arrested, ourselves, next. I began to think Naples was not 
so fine a place after all, and wished I was out of this land of 
mystery and miracles. Quite a mob soon collected about 
the carriage, as the fact was noised about — men, women, 
children, soldiers and priests. At last, four small vehicles 
were procured by our " vetturino's " order, and we changed 
our baggage to them, and after an hour or two of anxiety 
and apprehension of all sorts of evil, we found ourselves 
very merry and joyful at the "Hotel du Commerce," with 
excellent accommodations. We never learned the cause of 
our driver's arrest. It was supposed to be some informality 
in that everlasting torment, the passport. 

The next morning, early, (Saturday,) we prepared for an 
excursion to Mount Vesuvius. We rode nearly two miles 
over the broad and beautiful street on the shore of the gulf, 
with the shipping and a distant view of the islands at our 
right, while on our left were elegant edifices, villas and gar- 
dens, more imposing in appearance than in any other city I 
had seen, till we reached the station, where we took the cars 
to Portici, four miles farther, still in full view of the sea. 
From here we walked to the little village of Resina, where 
we engaged a guide and horses for four of the company, 
the rest preferring to walk. The sky was cloudy and we 
feared rain, but eager to feast our e)^es with a sight of one 
of the world's wonders, we were not disposed to defer our 



152 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

visit till another time. Portici has about five thousand in- 
habitants, and contains the Palais Royal with beautiful gar- 
dens just at the foot of Vesuvius. Many of the rich Nea- 
politans have superb country seats here. From Resina, we 
commenced the ascent of the mountain. We wound about 
through the narrow lanes of the outskirts of the village, till 
we reached a new, wide road, not yet finished, extending 
five or six miles, in a gradual ascent up the mountain, our 
companions on foot striking off on a shorter route, but im- 
passable for horses, where we soon lost sight of them. As 
we ascended the slope, we rode slow, every now and then 
turning square about, to enjoy the magnificent view which 
our position afforded of the city and bay of Naples, of the 
sea and its islands on one side, and of the chateaux, villas, 
palaces and vineyards in our immediate neighborhood, and 
the villages that dotted the plain in the distant view. Green 
fields and luxuriant vineyards, loaded with Italy's most lus- 
cious grapes, bordered our way, while the tall, dark peak of 
the volcano loomed up before us. No words can paint the 
beauty of the enchanting scene that filled our vision. We 
could only gaze and admire and loiter along, worrying each 
other with expressions of delight, and exhausting our vocabu- 
lary of adjectives in all their degrees, positive, comparative 
and superlative, and then finish by declaring that all we had 
ever heard and read fell infinitely below the reality, and all 
the sketches and colorings of the best artists did not begin to 
compare with nature's own work. And till we have a sort of 
"Transcendental" dictionary, a little above and beyond the 
comprehension of mortals in our present state, no represen- 
tation, save that which the eye itself can portray before the 
mind, will ever give any true idea of the magnificent and 
captivating scenery of this region to the lover of nature. 
Independent of the volcano and the stirring recollections 
awakened by its sight, it seems as if all the varied beauties 



dM »•, . 



LETTER NO. XX. 153 

of nature, of science, and of art, had congregated in this 
spot to form one of earth's most bewitching landscapes. 
Our road lay amid patches of scoria and vineyards, redeem- 
ed from the ruined fields of ages gone by, which, remarka- 
ble as it may seem, now produce the most delicious grapes 
and the richest wines of Italy. The ashes and scoria of 
the volcano, mingled with the natural soil, together with the 
favorable exposure of the hill-sides to the sun, the air and 
the dew, seem to contribute in a wonderful manner to the 
culture of superior fruit. The grapes almost melted in our 
mouths. From the vineyards on these mountain sides, is 
made the famous wine called " Lachrymaz Christi" 

At length we reached a plateau, covered with masses of 
lava as hard as flint, mingled with loose pieces of scoria, 
with now and then a stray shrub or flower, struggling for 
life amid the ashes and rubbish of this desolate waste. 
Here we found a little hermitage, inhabited by a poor 
" solitaire." To him the words of Goldsmith could be most 
truthfully applied — 

"Man wants but little here below, 
Nor wants that little long." 

For, living here on the heaving bosom of this uncertain 
volcano, he certainly could not expect to want anything long 
in this world. Here and there upon the mountain side, on 
the very edge of the black deposits of this fearful burning 
mountain, we saw some few handsome dwellings, leading us 
to wonder at the thoughtlessness and recklessness and 
temerity of those who, ever living in this " region and 
shadow of death," seem to have become insensible to fear, 
and utterly regardless of consequences. Before reaching 
the house of rest, a little below the cone of the mountain, 
there came up a tremendous blow of wind and rain, which 
added not a little to the variety and romance of our expedi- 



154 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

tion, if not to our comfort and hilarity. Here we met our 
companions, who had "climbed up some other way," and, 
all in company, but still on our horses, we traveled on over 
the melted rocks and spongy excrescences, and black, brittle 
scoria that filled our path. As to a defined road, we had 
none. We gave the reins to our horses, and leaving them 
to pick their way over the stony, sterile ascent, at length 
reached a temporary shelter at the foot of the " Cone de 
Gautrey," where we left our horses in the care of a guide. 
This peak is so called from a Frenchman of that name, who, 
some years since, in an unaccountable state of excitement, 
threw himself into the crater, from which his body was 
thrown out by an eruption two days after. Here we paused 
to take another view of the landscape below. The rain had 
ceased, and the sun shone fitfully upon the hill-tops and 
turrets before us. Naples in its length and breadth lay at 
our feet. The Gulf of Naples, with its shipping, and the 
Tyrrhean Sea, with its islands, stretched far away in the 
distance, till sea and sky were lost in one vast expanse. 
Pozzuoli was in full view. Posilippo, with its beautiful 
coast, and Cope Miseno, lay before us. 

The island of Capri and the promontory of Sorrento, with 
the islands of Procida and Ischia, with their green hills and 
dots of villages, stood off at our left, while under and around 
us were towns and cities upon whom the sleep of ages had 
settled. Far away down the slope, on all sides were the 
accumulated eruptions of centuries, blackened and hardened 
by time, from beneath whose dark, deep, flinty crust it 
seemed difficult to realize that the terrific mandate of the 
resurrection even could ever call up to life its thousands of 
slumbering dead. But we had a hard day's work before us, 
and it would not do to loiter. I took a long and earnest 
look up to the top of the rough, sombre, almost perpendicu- 
lar peak to which we aspired. It looked like a vast pyramid 



LETTER NO. XX. 155 

of burnt coal and ashes. There were three ways to reach 
the summit. The most common way for ladies to make the 
ascent, is to be carried up in an arm-chair, by four men, with 
poles run under the seat, carried by two men in front, wheel- 
barrow fashion, and resting on the shoulders of the two be- 
hind. But if, by any mischance, thought I, these men should 
happen to let me fall, I should roll down into one of these 
villages, perhaps, as much to the dismay of the inhabitants 
as to my own ! This mode I declined promptly. The guide 
then put a leather strap about his waist, and, giving me the 
long end, said he would pull me up after him. I tried this 
awhile, but concluded, finally, I would do as the rest did, 
crawl up. So I betook myself to my hands and feet, and, 
feeling that I had undertaken a serious job, I summoned all 
the resolution and fortitude I could command, and scrambled 
along finely for awhile; but, at length, the scoria being 
rough and loose, to one step forward, I found myself sliding 
down two behind. Patiently and perseveringly, however, I 
clambered along. Sometimes I would make quite an ad- 
vance, and then, by an unlucky footing, set in motion a pile 
of stones, that would go thumping and clattering down to the 
bottom. Sometimes, tired with effort, I would reach a safe 
place, and turn about and sit down to take breath, and "to 
consider upon my ways," and, obtaining a fresh view of the 
scenes before me, be stimulated to renewed exertion, and 
then travel on. Every now and then I received the kindly 
aid of a climbing-pole, extended to me by the gentlemen, 
who would pull me along. At length, with falls and bruises 
by some, with torn shoes and garments and aching limbs by 
others, and the loss of a bottle of wine by another, who fell 
and lost the precious contents in the fall, after an hour's se- 
vere effort, we reached the crater quite exhausted, and sat 
down to rest us and eat the dinner we had brought, before 
we proceeded to look in and inspect more minutely this aw- 



156 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

ful phenomenon of nature. Fissures in the ground were 
about us in every direction, from which smoke was con- 
stantly issuing, and so hot was the air emitted, that we could 
not hold our hands in them a moment. Sulphur was lying 
about crystalized and in powder. We walked partly around 
the rim of the crater. I was surprised to find it half a mile 
or more in circumference. It is constantly changing its ap- 
pearance. The last eruption, two years since, has given it 
a new aspect. A part of the distance, the width of the rim 
was not more than three feet, composed of rolling sand or 
ashes — the smoking, boiling abyss on one side, and an old 
extinct crater on the other. 

I think I never experienced a more appalling sense of 
fear than when walking on this narrow space, and occasion- 
ally peeping cautiously over into the smoking cauldron, from 
which the wind would now and then lift up the smoke for a 
moment and give us a glimpse of the yawning abyss, I found 
the ashes giving way beneath my feet and I sliding down 
into the old crater of '34. I screamed for help. The guide 
caught me, but his feet sliding too, Dr. M., a young English 
physician of our party, came to our rescue, and drew us to 
a safe place, breaking, in his effort to save us, some eggs 
which he had just cooked in one of the crevices of the moun- 
tain, by the heated air which was constantly issuing out of it. 
We rambled about, picking up pieces of sulphur and speci- 
mens of scoria ; sometimes reaching over into the crater to 
gather the powdered sulphur, which was actually so hot we 
could not hold it long in our hands. When it grew towards 
night, the guide mustered our party, and one of the gentle- 
men was missing. We feared he had fallen into the cra- 
ter, and for ten or fifteen minutes were greatly alarmed. 
He was at length found, and we prepared to go down. We 
encountered another party, among whom were two ladies, 
who had come up in the arm-chair. They were pale and 



LETTER NO. XX. 157 

terrified by their dangerous ascent, and looked, as children 
sometimes say, "as if they had seen sights" I supposed it 
would be as difficult, nearly, to go down as to come up, and 
dreaded it. We were told by our guide, that we must go 
down in the ashes, and not upon the scoria. Our astonish- 
ment was equalled only by our uproarious mirth, when we 
found that the moment we put our feet in the ashes we all 
began to slide down to the bottom of the mountain. The 
sand was bottomless. Our heads and arms were visible, 
while the ashes was flying in every direction ; but, like 
" Koran's troop," we were nearly " swallowed up," nor could 
we stop ourselves in our descent. Go we must, and go 
we did, till we found ourselves at the bottom. What it took 
us more than an hour's severe labor to accomplish in ascend- 
ing, required less than five minutes in the descent. We 
laughed heartily at the performance itself, and the figure 
we cut ; and quite in good humor, we mounted our horses 
and wound our way down the mountain, the guide pointing 
out the places of the different eruptions. The last, two 
years or more since, burst out at the side instead of the top 
of the mountain. As we cast our eyes far and wide, and 
beheld the extent of the ruins on every side, caused by the 
eruptions of former years, and the apparent insecurity of 
the inhabitants at its base, our wonder at the strange and 
astounding catastrophes which have occurred was fully 
equalled by our surprise at the fool-hardiness of the thou- 
sands, who seem to court destruction by planting themselves 
exactly at death's door. Our view of the country and the 
sea was more beautiful even, in our descent to Naples, than 
when we were ascending the mountain. Difficult as was 
the expedition, and weary as we were when we found our- 
selves at our hotel, on Saturday night, we felt well repaid 
for our toil. 
8 



158 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. XXI. 

Naples, October, 1850. 

Monday morning we left Naples early, to explore the fa- 
mous entombed city of Pompeii. Both Herculaneum and 
Pompeii can be visited in one day, as they are only a few 
miles apart ; but we were told there was not much to be seen 
now at the former, so we concluded to scour only Pompeii, 
for our time was short. The traveler who has leisure to see 
both, stops at Resina, on the way to Pompeii, and goes down 
to the sea-shore to find Herculaneum, where we took a guide 
and horses to go up Vesuvius. Our route to Pompeii was 
by the railroad, through Portici, Resina, Torre del Greco, 
containing thirteen thousand inhabitants, and Torre del 
Annunziata, with a population of nine thousand souls. Its 
distance is about twelve miles from Naples. No one can 
pass the site of the ancient city of Herculaneum without 
feelings of deep melancholy. The almost entire oblivion 
in which it was buried for more than sixteen centuries, 
with only a tradition that such a city was, but nobody knew 
where — the little that we know of it now, with the much 
that the researches future years will doubtless disclose, 
shroud it with an antiquity and a mystery that cannot fail 
most sadly to interest the stranger. If we may believe some 
writers, it was a bustling city at the time of the siege of 
Troy, one thousand three hundred and forty-two years be- 
fore the Christian era. How little did Hercules, its founder, 
dream of its destiny ! And how passing strange is it, that, 
in its very neighborhood, with the muttering thunders of 
Vesuvius, like a prophet's voice, echoing in their ears from 



LETTER NO. XXI. 159 

year to year, the cities of Portici and Resina should dare 
to plant their walls in the ashes that cover the ruins of their 
predecessor ! But thus it is. Man is so infatuated he will 
rush on to destruction, in spite of warnings, threatenings, 
and the most terrific and mournful examples, even in the 
face of death itself. 

Not a trace of the river Sarno, which once ran through 
this buried city, is now visible within several miles. It 
seems to have been choked and filled up by the shower of 
ashes which destroyed the city, and its course is now below 
Pompeii. In the excavations which have been made, the 
old bed of the river has been found. It was at the depth of 
eighty feet below the surface, that the richest part of the 
ancient city was discovered. Think what a deluge of burn- 
ing cinders must have astonished the bewildered inhabitants 
who fled from their homes ! And what a sea of fire must 
have enveloped with its burning waves those who were too 
sick and helpless to flee ! Yet nobody here fears a similar 
catastrophe, although so lately as the eruption of 1834, one 
hundred houses were buried up. 

At the railroad station, near Pompeii, we found a man 
who said he could talk English well, and, engaging him as 
our cicerone, we walked up to the ruined city ; but we soon 
began to think it would be necessary to get another to inter- 
pret his English. Many of the guides that are found 
throughout Italy, and that impose themselves upon the trav- 
eler, and must be engaged for want of better, are miserably 
qualified for their profession. They profess to talk Ger- 
man, French, English and Italian generally, and I suppose 
they serve their various patrons with a like gibberish. We 
entered Pompeii near the Cathedral and Forum, ascending 
quite an eminence, from which we had an extensive view. 
Its location must have been charming originally. 



160 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Quite a portion of the city has been uncovered, yet per- 
haps not one half; and there it stands before you — a 
mournful spectacle ! Many workmen are constantly em" 
ployed in making excavations, and in restoring the original 
appearance of the public buildings and dilapidated walls. 
Every fragment is replaced, and every broken column 
mended, and all the rubbish that had accumulated for ages 
has been removed. The streets, more than twenty of which 
have been cleared and swept, are lonp, straight and narrow, 
and look, I suppose, precisely as they did the last days its 
fated inhabitants walked them. The side-walks are about 
two or three feet wide, made of lava. The streets are paved 
with the same material, and are, perhaps, fifteen feet wide 
between the side-walks. Ruts are worn into the stone, in 
some places, two inches deep, showing not only that the 
streets had been long traveled, but that the carriages used 
were very narrow. The carriages or chariots could not have 
been more than two feet and a half wide, and could not have 
accommodated more than one person on a seat. With what 
mingled emotions did I walk up and down these streets ! 
How many thousands in all the vigor of life, and the buoy- 
ancy of hope, and chronicled by fame, perhaps world-wide 
once, had trod where I trod, and been hustled along in the 
busy crowd of loungers and gapers, beggars and princes, 
mechanics and merchants, whose names tradition has for- 
gotten to hand down, and history to record — whose deeds 
have faded from the pillars, perhaps, which were to stand as 
monuments forever ! Naught but the influence of their 
lives for weal or woe to man now lives to travel on to eter- 
nity. What a solemn thought, that our influence never 
dies ! Whether we will or not, it marches on from genera- 
tion to generation, till, like a poison or a cure, it spreads 
into the arteries of society, working death or life, and affects 
countless multitudes to the end of time. Only in this way 



LETTER NO. XXI. 161 

do any of the master spirits, that moved Pompeii once, live 
in the world's history now, and its pages will never be read 
till the universe is assembled to hear. 

The houses seem to have been built mostly of bricks, 
about an inch thick, of a lighter color, harder, and less por- 
ous than the bricks of our own times. They were two 
stories high, with terraced roofs. The roofs, of course, 
have all disappeared, and everything made of wood in the 
houses was so charred by the red hot cinders as to have 
given way, and has been removed with other rubbish. 
Most things of value have also been taken to the museums 
of Naples, Portici, Rome, Versailles, &c. But a decree 
has been passed, of late years, by the king of Naples, pro- 
hibiting the removal of any article that may be found here- 
after. The walls of the houses remain as they were, but 
the door-cases and window-frames have disappeared. The 
names and occupation of some of the business men can be 
deciphered, and the devices in front of the shops and stores 
still remain. I walked into a bake shop and looked around. 
There was the stone-slab counter with the indentures of 
years upon it, where bread had been delivered to many a 
hungry soul, and the marble on which many a cracker or 
pie-crust had been moulded; and, in another place, the 
oven itself in which they were baked. I put my head into 
the oven, and rumaged about with my hands, hoping to find 
a small bit of bread or cake "of olden time." What would 
I not have given for a piece of bread eighteen hundred years 
old, or a pie baked in the time of Titus! But there was 
nothing in the oven save ashes, showing that the baker had 
not swept his oven as clean as we do in modern times. We 
went into an oil shop, and a soap factory, and a great wash- 
ing establishment. In this last place everything had been 
done on a grand scale. I should judge, from its capacity 
and arrangements within, that it might have served for a 



162 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

city washhouse. We visited the house of Sallust, and pick- 
ed some wild roses that grew in the court. 

The rooms in most of the buildings were quite 
small, and the walls in many of them were painted in a very 
handsome style of fresco, the colors still fresh. Baskets of 
fruit and flowers, cupids, gods and goddesses, without num- 
ber, and representations of battles, heroes, and events, which, 
of course, were nameless to us, arrested our attention, as 
well as the paved and magnificent floors of some of the 
public buildings. Some of these floors were elegant speci- 
mens of mosaic, and the person who showed them to us 
would rub a space with a wet cloth to give us an idea of 
their beauty when fresh and unexposed to the dew and air. 
The restaurants were evidently places of great splendor 
in their day, equal to the present cafes of France and Italy. 

We were shown one building, which had been excavated 
within the last six months. It was probably a musical aca- 
demy. We judged so from the style of fresco paintings 
on the walls, where the muses and many musical instru- 
ments were represented, and probably included a refresh- 
ment room, for Ceres and Pomona and other fabulous 
divinities, with their rich golden treasures, were also depict- 
ed in glowing colors. There was also a beautiful fountain 
in the centre of a small court, near which a marble statue of 
Apollo stood, and several animals of pure white marble, 
left by the king's order, stood, around the fountain, some of 
them maimed, but as fresh looking as when they came from 
the sculptor's chisel. A little dog, a duck, and a rabbit, I 
would very willingly have brought away with me, but no one 
is permitted to carry off any relics. The floors in this es- 
tablishment were also in mosaic, each piece about one-eighth 
of an inch square, and laid in very fanciful patterns, like 
the rich and varied colors and regular figures of a kaleides- 
cope. Quite a number of soldiers are scattered about Pom- 



LETTER NO. XXI. 163 

peii, to guard the most interesting of its antiquities from 
the depredations of visiters, and to make money out of tra- 
velers who explore these ruins. You cannot enter some of 
these houses without feeing the keeper with a carlin or two. 
A carlin is worth about eight cents. We visited the temple 
of Isis, and while one of the company took the place of the 
goddess, I slipped into a private door, up a pair of stairs 
behind the niche once occupied by the priestess, and deliv- 
ered an orach, after the manner of the ancients, to auditors 
as willing to listen as those of yore, but more faithless in 
the divine inspiration. Formerly, a hollow image used to 
stand here, into which a priest crept and spoke, having 
access by the private staircase I found, while the poor, ig- 
norant devotees believed the goddess herself was endowed 
with speech. 

We went into a cell in one of the prisons, where two men 
were found dead, sitting " in the stocks." These skeletons 
are exhibited in some museum, I forget where. 

It is said that in one building, twenty-seven females were 
found near a door, evidently in the attempt to escape from 
impending ruin. In another place, near a door, were found 
the skeletons of two men, one holding a key in one hand 
and a bag of cameos in the other. We went into a public 
bathing establishment, which was evidently fitted up origin- 
ally in great style, and were shown one marble bathing-tub, 
in which our guide told us Pius IX. had bathed his " infal- 
lible" humanity, and which, in his eyes, was now evidently 
a sacred relic. 

We were shown the house of Marcus Arrius Diomede. 
But little remains except the walls and the wine cellar. The 
latter is a great curiosity. It is about eight feet wide, and 
extends around the house, forming a square, fifty feet on 
the side. It is in a perfect state of preservation. We saw 
six earthen wine jars, two feet or more high, which would 



164 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

contain several gallons each. Two of them seemed to be 
whole, and, for aught I know, were filled with wine nearly 
two thousand years old, but, as all four of our company 
were teetotalers, we did not examine into the matter, but 
left them untouched for the benefit of the wine-bibbers who 
should come after us. The walls of the city are eighteen 
feet high, and twelve feet thick, and are uncovered for two 
miles. Six gates have been discovered. But nothing inter- 
ested me more than the Cemetery of Pompeii. The tombs 
are some of them beautiful in design, costly in material, and 
exquisite in finish. The inscriptions were in Latin ; I re- 
gretted that I had not time to copy some of them. One I 
noticed was built A. D. 12, from the inscription. I would 
have been glad to have spent hours in wandering about the 
monuments and decyphering the names upon them, but time 
would not allow. We walked out of the city in a different 
direction from the place we entered it, and sauntered through 
a vineyard and a large cotton field, whose luxuriance and 
beauty were amazing. But what a multitude of thoughts 
rushed upon us ! We were walking, perhaps, above the 
buried treasures of a ruined city, which future time may 
perhaps uncover. Among the most precious articles yet 
discovered in these cities, are 1696 papyrus rolls, some of 
which are so charred as to be illegible, and others will at a 
future time be deciphered, and unravel some of the mys- 
tery which now envelops Herculaneum and Pompeii. 



LETTER NO. XXII. 



Steamer Lombakdy, Mediterranean, 
October, 1850. 

There are many objects of interest in Naples, but nothing 
more enchanting than the incomparable beauty of its loca- 
tion. The bay itself, it is said, exceeds all others in the 
known world, except that of Constantinople, and its beauti- 
ful panorama of islands, clustered around it, dotted with 
their many villages, and the tall, black, smoking volcano, 
which looms up below it, cannot but extort from the travel- 
er the acknowledgement, that Naples is the queen of cities. 
It is not walled around, like other large cities of the Conti- 
nent, but is defended by several chateaux, the most remark- 
able of w T hich is the Chateau St. Elme, the Chateu Neuf, 
and the Chateau de l'Oeuf. The former is built in a regu- 
lar hexagonal form, overlooking the entire city and gulf, in- 
cluding Vesuvius, and its foundations are laid on solid rock. 
Le Chateau Neuf is said to have been built from the design 
of the old Bastile of Paris ; it stands on the shore of the sea 
and behind the King's Palace. The Chateau the l'Oeuf is 
so called from its shape, which is like an egg. This stands 
on the top of a rock, which forms an island, and is connect- 
ed with the city by a canal one hundred and twenty feet 
long. This chateau divides the gulf into two parts and over- 
looks the whole. It is now used for prisoners of State. 
Many of the princes and noble inhabitants are now prison- 
ers for political offences, among whom are several ladies. 

Ferdinand II., the present King, is very unpopular. The 
army is recruited from the best young men, and often great - 
8* 



1 66 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

ly against their will. We were told of one family, who were 
entirely dependent on the two sons, who were at the head 
of a great manufacturing establishment. Both were indis- 
pensable to carry on the business. One of the sons was 
drafted for the army. He could not leave without breaking 
up the establishment, and was obliged to buy himself off by 
the payment of $1,000. 

The Palais de la Residence Royal is one of the finest in 
Naples, and the Hotel Royal des Pauvres, a house of refuge 
for the poor, is magnificent. It encloses four courts, and a 
church in the centre. Here they admit orphans, who are 
apprenticed to different trades at a suitable age, or are ini- 
tiated into the various arts and sciences for which they de- 
velop a taste. 

There are about three hundred churches in Naples, many 
of which, contain fine paintings, statues, &c, but they are 
not equal to those in Rome. On the Sabbath, we attended 
the English service in the chapel of the English Ambassa- 
dor. It is neatly fitted up for worship, but is difficult to find 
and such a constant firing of cannon was kept up exactly 
under the windows, that it was impossible to hear anything. 

There was nothing in the external appearance of the in- 
habitants to remind us of the Sabbath. The streets were fill- 
ed with a bustling throng of soldiers, priests, lazzaroni and 
others, who were crowding their way hither and thither, and 
the stores displayed, if anything, a greater and richer varie- 
ty than usual. 

The Bourbon Museum, which we visited too late on Mon- 
day to gain access, is said to contain more rare, precious and 
curious objects of antiquity and art than the Vatican. The 
various rooms are filled with the exhumed treasures of Her- 
culaneum, Pompeii and S labia. One room alone contains 
sixteen thousand articles of various kinds, kitchen utensils, 
musical instruments, keys, &c. 



LETTER NO. XXII. 167 

Naples contains colleges, academies, and benevolent in- 
stitutions of various kinds, also a Conservatoire de Musique, 
which is in high repute, and which has produced many ce- 
lebrated compositors of music, among whom are Zingarelli 
and Bellini. Zingarelli was the composer of the sublime 
Miserere, which is chanted in the Holy Week at St. Peters 
with such thrilling effect, as we are told. 

Silks, velvets, laces, stockings, gloves, maccaroni, &c, are 
important articles of commerce. Both ladies' and gentle- 
men's gloves we found for two carlins or sixteen cents a 
pair. A carriage and driver could be hired for an hour for 
one carlin. A person can live here cheaper, probably, than 
in any other city of Europe. The currency was a source 
of great annoyance to us. We had just become familiar 
with the bajocchi and scudi of Rome; and at Naples we 
found tornesi, grana, carlini, and Neapolitan scudi, which dif- 
fers somewhat from the Roman scudi. 

Many delightful excursions can be made from Naples to 
localities famed by the fables of the ancients and the pens 
of historians, among which are Posylippo, the tomb of Vir- 
gil, Grotto du Chien, Pozzuoli, Lake Avernus, Grotto of 
the Sybil, Baiae, Cape Mysene, &c. Posylippo is a cele- 
brated mountain, through which a grotto is cut at its base, 
960 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The grotto 
is lighted day and night. It is not now known by whom 
this gigantic work was executed, nor at what period, but it 
was probably done to shorten the route from Naples to Poz* 
zuoli, and to avoid the ascent of the mountain. Beyond 
this grotto is Virgil's tomb. The road to Pozzuoli is beau? 
tiful, but the country about, including Baiae, once renown- 
ed as the seat of splendor and luxury, presents to the eye a 
desolate waste. Here was once the seat of superstition and 
the centre of earthly enjoyment. Here Caligula lived in 
splendor, power, luxury and crime. Everything that wealth 



168 SIGPITS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

and art, and science and pleasure could gather into one place, 
was concentrated in this beautiful region — this Campagna 
Felice of the Romans. I could imagine how beautiful it was. 
The scenery by land and at sea was exquisite. The climate 
delightful. It was a land of oil, and wine and honey. With 
a soil incomparably rich, everything that nature could crave 
might grow almost spontaneously. The waters were full of 
fish. Country and city, with their verdant beauties and ar- 
chitectural gems, land and water, mountain and valley, all 
conspired to form a bewitching landscape. Horace thought 
there was no place on earth like Baiae ; and Virgil, and Ci- 
cero, and Seneca, and hosts of other renowned characters, 
once gazed on this very spot with emotions of delight. But 
these cities, and their pomp and array, and swarming, bust- 
ling, gay, pleasure-loving crowds, have long since passed 
away. There was a traveler who stopped at Pozzuoli more 
than eighteen hundred years ago. What were his emotions 
as he looked abroad over this garden of the world ! He was 
a poor, despised, persecuted man — but a man whose memo- 
ry lives to bless the world, while the memory of Caligula 
rots. I mean the Apostle Paul, when having tarried three 
months at Malta, he came up a prisoner to Rome, in chains, 
and we are told, " the ship fetched a compass and came to 
Rhegium, and the next day they reached Puteoli" — now 
called Pozzuoli. Paul and Caligula, what a contrast then ! 
what a contrast forever ! 

The dog-grotto is about nine feet long, four wide and ten 
deep. A light vapor constantly issues from it, which is fa- 
tal to animal life. It is a singular fact, that this vapor rises 
only to the height of a few inches from the ground. A dog, 
placed in the vicinity of this deadly air, after inhaling it a 
few seconds, is thrown into convulsions, and unless speedily 
removed into a purer atmosphere, dies. Man, from his sta- 
ture, may stand there with impunity, whereas, if he should 



LETTER NO. XXII. 169 

lie down upon the ground and inhale the air, he would be 
similarly effected. Lake Avernus is of an oval shape, and 
a mile and a half in circumference. It is surrounded by 
mountains, which, it is said, were formerly covered with 
dense forests, whose dark, thick shadows eternally brooded 
over the waters, from which such a fatal miasma arose as to 
render its vicinity dangerous. It is not so now, however. 
The banks of the lake are charming, it is full of excellent 
fish, and the air is healthy. The depth is 400 feet. The 
entrance to the famous grotto of the Sybil is opposite this 
lake, and further on is the famous river Styx, and for aught 
I know, the grim old ferryman, Charon, was waiting for 
some passengers — we did not go in to see. 

Without seeing half the curiosities worthy of notice in 
Naples, we were obliged to leave, and taking the steamboat 
Lombardy at 5 o'clock, p. m., we reached Civita Vecchia, 
185 miles, early in the morning. There was only one lady 
beside myself in the lady's cabin, and we were startled in 
the night by a noise near us, and looking out of our berths, 
we found a man rummaging the pockets of our dresses, 
which were hung up, probably in the expectation of finding 
money. It seems as if the Italians could not live without 
begging or stealing. As soon as it was light in the morn- 
ing, we were told that the health officers were on board and 
would soon be in the cabin to see what condition we were 
in. My companion jumped up and hastily dressed herself, 
but I contented myself with putting my head out from the 
curtains, and telling the officer that I was alive. We were 
soon, however, summoned up on deck, to be counted and 
numbered, and go through a comical ceremony, which last- 
ed an hour. Every one was compelled to come forward as 
his name was called and be numbered, and then march in 
single file the length of the vessel like a row of State's pri- 
soners, and be counted like a flock of sheep. When it was 



170 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

found that we all answered to our names and number, that 
nobody was sick, dead or missing, we were told we might 
go on shore. Had any one of our passengers been ill, we 
should probably have been obliged to remain in quarantine 
several days. 

Before we could land, we found the Captain was obliged 
to go to the police office and exhibit his papers and our pass- 
ports, and report the health of the vessel, &c. — all of which 
occupied him till nearly noon. Then we found we must 
pay two pauls each to be rowed from the boat to the land, 
and pay the police for liberty to land, so we concluded, as 
we had once gone through a series of like ceremonies in this 
same renowned city, we would remain on board till 5 o'- 
clock, when the vessel would leave for Leghorn. 

Civita Vecchia contains six or seven thousand inhabitants, 
and is a very important place, as the vessels from Malta, 
Naples, Leghorn, Genoa and Marseilles are constantly ar- 
riving. It is said there are no less than thirty arrivals each 
month from these ports. Civita Vecchia stands where the 
Roman settlement of Centumcellae formerly stood. The 
prisons of Civita Vecchia will contain 1200 prisoners, and 
are the largest in the Papal States. The brigand, Gaspe- 
ronia, has been confined here, and twenty of his banditi, 
for more than eighteen years. He was the celebrated lead- 
er of the band who committed so many depredations on tra- 
velers passing the Pontine Marshes, through Fondi and St. 
Agatha. He admits that he has murdered thirty persons, 
though rumor accuses him of having killed hundreds. He 
holds a levee between 11 and 12 o'clock, and can be seen 
by permission of the Consul, by any one who has the curio- 
sity to call on the monster. It is said people not only visit 
him, but make him presents of money. The Pope, some 
years since, allowed him two pauls a day for his tobacco 
and brandy. Whether the present Pope regards him with 



LETTER NO. XXII. 171 

so much interest and attention, I am not able to say. I pre- 
sume he regards himself as quite a favored and distinguish- 
ed character. He does not hesitate to say that " the great- 
est prize he ever took was $4,000. " After the death of 
Cucumello, the old leader of the banditti from Rome to Na- 
ples, he was chosen successor, and for several years was the 
terror of all travelers through that region. 

And here I must touch a little upon the morality of Italy. 
Robbery, beggary, murder, stealing, lying and imposition of 
all kinds is practiced in this country with an effrontery and 
deliberation, and frequency, that makes you feel every mo- 
ment you need more than one pair of eyes to make your 
way. In Rome, one of our company had two silk pocket 
handkerchiefs stolen in two successive days from his pocket 
while in market buying grapes. In Naples, after engaging 
a carriage for two carlins an hour, on paying the driver, he 
declared that a two carlin piece was only one carlin, and 
therefore, in consequence of not understanding the currency, 
he was paid, and took without compunction, four carlins. In 
Verona, one of our company on retiring, requested an extra 
blanket on his bed. Instead of which, the servant under- 
stood that he wished his sheets changed, and walked off with 
the gentleman's watch, which had been placed under his 
pillow. Our friend soon gave the alarm, as well as he was 
able in broken language, and the servant was made to give 
up his prize. In buying maps of Rome, the bookseller 
charged twelve francs each, but finally took six francs. We 
found that no one who understood the custom of the coun- 
try, pretended to give the price asked for a thing, and mer- 
chants almost invariably ask more for an article than they 
expect to receive. 

I mention these cases as samples of business transactions. 
In regard to beggary, as Italy is celebrated for its charitable 
institutions, you are astonished at the crowds of mendicants 



172 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

that assail you every where. From the priesthood and offi- 
cers employed by government, down to the wretched and 
squalid outcasts of society, you find yourself constantly sur- 
rounded with supplicants for charity. Some of the priests 
and monks are masked, and will shake a box of coins in 
your ear, and call to you from the corner of the street tq 
give to something or other. 

With a population of 175,000, Rome expends an immense 
sum in charity. Relief is distributed to the poor at their 
own houses, by a committee, to the amount of $172,000 
annually. The Pope gives 840,000 a year in charity. The 
annual revenues of their charitable institutions, which are, 
most of them, magnificently endowed, is said to be not less 
than $840,000, and all this is independent of the large sums 
distributed by the different orders and fraternities ; and yet 
Rome is full of beggars — wherever you go, they are at your 
heels. 

And then — "tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets 
of Askelon" — the number of Foundling institutions in Italy 
is positively frightful. In Rome even, the city of the Pope, 
the representative of God himself, with the immaculate ex- 
ample of infallibility ever before the community, and six 
thousand specimens of spotless humanity embodied in priests, 
monks and nuns, three thousand children " without fathers, 
without mothers, without descent, " are laid at the doors of 
foundling institutions in Rome every year ! In one hospi- 
tal, eight hundred foundlings are received annually. Nobo- 
dy knows or wonders where these children come from; 
they come up of a night, probably, like toadstools. It is a 
blessed fact, however, that most of the children die in infan- 
cy, and that He, who has said: " When thy father and thy 
mother forsake thee, then the Lord will take thee up, " re- 
members his promise, especially in regard to these deserted 
infants, and that, by estimation, it is supposed that seventy 



LETTER NO. XXIII. 173 

two per cent, of them are withdrawn from this life in infan- 
cy annually, to be trained in God's nursery for heavenly 
service. There most be some radical defect in a religious 
community, where such startling facts are developed. In a 
land of Bibles, such inhumanity in the gross was never 
heard of. 



LETTER NO. XXIII. 

Turin, October, 1850. 

Leaving Civita Vecchia at 5 p. m., we reached Leghorn 
the next morning, and lay by at that port till 5 p. m., and 
then left for Genoa, where we arrived Friday morning ear- 
ly. The trip from Naples to Genoa could be accomplished 
in two days and nights, instead of three days and a half, 
were it not for the delays at Civita Vecchia and Leghorn to 
take in freight and passengers. The appearance of Genoa 
from the sea, as you enter the harbor from Leghorn, is very 
imposing and beautiful. The city lies before you on the 
slope of a mountain, in the form of a crescent. The lofty 
hills in the back-ground are covered with low oaks and 
olives, and interspersed with palaces, and villas and gardens 
blooming in luxuriance and gaiety. It would seem to be a 
city of kings, from the number of its palaces. A few of 
the streets are quite handsome ; Balbi, Nuova and Nuovis- 
sima are among the finest. In the Strada Nuova are six 
palaces on the north side, and seven on the south, and the 
glimpses you get, as you pass, of the courts and statues, and 



174 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

columns and arches, and orange trees and rare "flowers, give 
you an idea of their splendor and magnificence within. 
The majority of the streets, however, are excessively nar- 
row, while the houses are handsome, and perhaps five or 
six stories high, and look as if they nearly met at the top. 
It is impossible for a carriage to pass through many of these 
streets, and as the houses rise in massive blocks up the hills, 
you wonder how the people can ever climb up those steep, 
dark, narrow lanes to their homes, and much more how they 
supply themselves with furniture and provision, and wood, 
&c. So we enquired, and found their burdens were carried 
chiefly on the shoulders of men, and on the backs of mules 
and donkeys. My 'heart ached for poor, abused humanity, 
as I saw hogsheads of molasses born up the landing from 
the boats on the shoulders of six men. We were told, that 
the merchants who live up these narrow streets, take mules 
at the bottom of the street, while a servant follows on foot, 
holding on to the mule's tail to help him up, and when the 
gentleman alights at his own door, the servant rides back 
again on the mule. One cannot fail to remark in all the 
Italian cities and harbors the immense labor required to 
conduct their ordinary business, and the utter want of all 
the labor-saving machines and contrivances, which are so 
prevalent every where in America. It seems as if every- 
thing is done in the hardest possible manner, and every bo- 
dy goes the most round-about way to work. And, consi- 
dering what a lazy people the Italians are, we could not but 
laugh oftentimes, at their awkward and ridiculous, and fa- 
tiguing efforts to accomplish what the ingenuity of an En- 
glishman or an American would do with the utmost ease to 
himself. Genoa is strongly fortified. An inner and an 
outer wall surround the city ; the inner one contains the city 
proper, and the outer one extends over the sides of the hills 
and mountains, a length of eighteen miles. 



LETTER NO. XXIII. 175 

There are said to be 144,000 inhabitants here, besides 
the garrison. Silks, damasks, velvets and artificial flowers, 
with embroideries of cambrics and muslin, afford employ- 
ment to a great number of the people. And the gold and 
silver fillagre work, peculiar to this city, gives the shops the 
most brilliant appearance. The fig tree wood is made here 
into dressing boxes, caskets, &c, of great beauty. The 
women do not wear bonnets generally, but have a strip of 
Swiss muslin two yards in length, thrown over their heads, 
not concealing their faces, but held together under the chin 
by one hand, while the other is folded across the breast. It 
is one of the most becoming fashions imaginable. Even 
the common people and market women surprise you by the 
clean, fresh look of their white muslin veils, as they pass by. 
We stopped at the Hotel Feder, formerly the Palace of the 
Admiralty, a very excellent hotel, from which we had a de- 
lightful view of the bay and sea, and of a new portico along 
the quay of the port, which extends some distance. Upon 
the terrace is a beautiful promenade with a marble floor, 
where, in a pleasant moonlight evening, you have a magni- 
ficent prospect of the land and sea. Galley slaves are em- 
ployed on the public works in various parts of the city. 
They are dressed in red ; those who have been guilty of 
murder wear caps of red and black, while the caps of thieves 
are red and yellow. There are many very beautiful paint- 
ings in Genoa, both in the palaces and the churches. The 
works of Guido, Rubens, Vandycke, Tinttoreto, Paul Vero- 
nese, Garafolo, Titian, Raphael, &c, afford a feast to the 
lover of painting. The Palazzo Rosso contains the best 
private collection. A hundred thousand dollars, we were 
told, had been expended in ornamenting one hall in one of 
the palaces. The paved marble floors, frescoed ceilings and 
gilded walls exhibit the greatest splendor. We visited on- 
ly two churches. The Cathedral, a Gothic edifice, striped 



176 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUEOPE. 

with black and white marble, is quite odd and curious, but 
like many other splendid works of Italy, not half finished. 
Under one of its altars, it is said, repose the ashes of John 
the Baptist ! L'Annunziata is a very rich and gorgeous 
church, so covered with gilding inside, that it seems, almost 
as if built with sunbeams. Genoa is peculiarly interesting 
to the American traveler as the birthplace of Christopher 
Columbus. We regretted that we could not remain two or 
three weeks in Genoa ; we could have passed the time de- 
lightfully. We left for Turin by way of Novi, Alessan- 
dria and Marengo, in the diligence. The scenery was de- 
lightful as we climbed the ridge of the Appenines, which 
skirts Genoa. Vineyards covered the hill sides, and groves 
of chesnuts of enormous size met our eye every where. 

We found Novi a pleasant town of 10,000 inhabitants; it 
was near here the brave Gen. Joubert lost his life in 1799. 
We wandered about the place two or three hours, and then 
took the railroad to Turin. We were all on tip-toe to see 
the famous battle-field of Marengo. We passed straight 
through it, and were so fortunate as to find a gentleman in 
the cars who was familiar with the whole ground, and 
who, with much enthusiasm, pointed out the locations and 
explained the manoeuvres of the two armies, and the three 
places where the Austrian force crossed the river Bormida 
into the plain of Marengo, and advanced upon Napoleon in 
three separate columns. The Austrian numbered forty 
thousands; Napoleon had but twenty thousand at command, 
(for Dessaix and the reserve, were absent) only two thou- 
sand five hundred of whom were cavalry. 

Our companion showed us where Victor stood, and Lan- 
nes and St. Cyr were posted with their divisions, behind 
which were the Consular Guard and Napoleon himself. He 
showed us where Dessaix with the reserve, appeared in the 
outskirts of the field, whose timely presence encouraged Na- 



LETTER NO. XXIII. 177 

poleon's army and won the day. The brave Dessaix was 
the first that fell. We saw where the routed Austrian s cros- 
sed the Bormida, and where both horses and riders, by hun- 
dreds, were drowned, and the river, it is said, flowed with 
blood. Alessandria, in the neighborhood of Marengo, is a 
large and flourishing city ; and Asti, the next city of note, 
contains 24,000 inhabitants. Near this last place, are "two 
wells which, before the earthquake of Lisbon, contained 
pure water ; after this they became sulphuretted and unfit 
for use till the earthquake in Pignerol, in 1807, when the 
waters became sweet again." Turin is a magnificent city, 
containing, it is said, 117,000 inhabitants, exclusive of the 
soldiery, of which there is a large number. There are few 
monuments here, as in most cities of Italy, of great antiqui- 
ty, as it has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The 
streets are straight and wide, with sidewalks, and intersect 
each other at right angles ; the houses are handsome and 
regular, and built of yellow brick, which imparts to the city 
a very lively appearance ; they are very high, some of them 
of many stories ; the doors and windows ornamented, and a 
cornice around the top. I wondered where the poor lived, 
for surely they could not inhabit such fine dwellings, and 
was told it was against the law to put up an indifferent look- 
ing house in Turin. They are generally built much alike 
— all handsome — and the poor look, outwardly, comfortable 
as the rich. I was delighted with the appearance of the in- 
habitants. They seemed to be, and we were told they were 
an industrious, honest, kind-hearted people. We saw few 
beggars and little apparent poverty. Turin is most beauti- 
fully located in the valleys of the Dora and the Po, just 
above their confluence ; the streets have stone slabs laid for 
carriage -wheels to run upon, in some of them two lines, and 
it is delightful to run over them, there is so little and so easy 



178 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

a motion. This peculiarity in the streets we found in Mi- 
lan and some others of the Italian cities. 

The women, by hundreds in companies, are to be seen, 
in a pleasant day, washing by the river side or from the 
sides of low vessels near the banks. Here, as in Rome and 
many other places, family washings do not enter into the 
code of domestic economy, but the washings are done chea- 
per and better, it is said, by women trained in the practice 
of washing in the rivers. I amused myself half an hour 
one day, as I sat down on the stone abutment of the bridge, 
in gazing at these merry washer women. They sang and 
swashed about the clothes in the river and then piled them 
up on the stones, and laughed and told stories and enjoyed 
themselves in fine style, while it seems as if the garments, 
without hot water, and for aught I know, without soap, must 
come from their hands anything but clean. In Rome, how- 
ever, our clothes were washed in this way, and were well 
done. It costs there two bajocchi, or two cents, to wash 
and iron a shirt. 

We were very desirous to see Vittorie Emanuele, the new 
King of Sardinia, or as he pilfers to be styled, the king 
of Piedmont, (not relishing the idea that the little island of 
Sardinia should give the name to his kingdom.) We visit- 
ed his palace, and were more delighted, on the whole, with 
his royal residence than any other we have seen. The 
rooms we visited, while they contain many of the splend- 
id productions of ancient art, and display many peculiarities 
of antique style, have so many modern adornments and 
comforts, as to render them charming. Nothing can ex- 
ceed the beauty of the mosaic floors. The royal family 
were not at home, and we were taken into some of the pri- 
vate apartments, which were fitted up in a style of luxury 
and ease truly magnificent ; yet they were not carpeted. I 
could have spent hours delightfully in wandering through 



LETTER NO. XXIII. 179 

the suite of rooms occupied by the ex-Queen, mother of the 
present King, Maria Teresa of Tuscany, Archduchess of 
Austria, and examining all the curious and fanciful things 
she had gathered together ; everything to please the eye 
and the taste. Her bedquilt and curtains are of the most 
exquisite crimson silk damask, lined with white silk, and 
her writing table, and her work room, adjoining, contained 
almost a museum of curiosities and conveniences. For the 
first time in my life, I wished I was a queen, and had such 
useful, convenient and beautiful things. She has a little 
boudoir, fitted up with a sofa on each side, in which, at the 
sound of the dinner bell, the family seat themselves, and by 
means of pulleys, they go down, down, down into the din- 
ing room, dumb-waiter fashion, and find themselves at din- 
ner before they know it. This plan was contrived to save 
their royal personages the trouble of going up and down 
stairs. One of her rooms was covered with mirrors over- 
head, so arranged that you are compelled to behold hun- 
dreds of fac-similes of your own precious self, and it has 
such a ludicrous effect to see yourself suddenly multiplied 
into a vast assembly, that you cannot avoid a fit of laughter. 
Indeed, I was so annoyed by the hundreds of my own eyes 
gazing at me, and the presence of hundreds of myself a- 
bout me, that I was glad to escape from myself and be alone. 
Rooms of paintings, statues and ancient curiosities belong 
to her suite of apartments. 

In one chamber, every thing remains as Carlo Alberto, 
the late king, left it. The bed on which he died away from 
home, has lately been brought and placed here. In this 
room, the ex-Q,ueen spends many hours. He died, it is said, 
of a broken heart. 

Charles Albert was, perhaps, the leading spirit in the at- 
tempt made soon after the French revolution, to combine all 



180 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Italy — the Kingdom of Naples, Roman States, Tuscany, 
Lombardy and Piedmont, in one great Italian nation, leav- 
ing at the same time, each existing kingdom an indepen- 
dent sovereignty, like the separate States in our own glo- 
rious confederacy. Lombardy had rebelled against Aus- 
tria, Tuscany and Rome had participated in the struggle, 
and the King of Naples had yielded to the popular cry and 
sent 40,000 men to their aid. They had marched as far as 
Alessandria, within a few miles of Turin, when, as is gen- 
erally supposed, under the influence of Austria and Russian 
gold, and a groundless fear that Charles Albert sought to 
acquire the ascendancy over all Italy, and put the crown 
on his own head, they withdrew all their forces suddenly, 
and left Charles Albert and Lombardy, to encounter the 
whole Austrian army alone. He could not endure the 
thought of having his people crushed and subjugated as 
Lombardy had been, and prematurely brought on a decisive 
battle, which he lost, and in which he fought like a mad- 
man, desiring to die on the field. His friends bore him 
forcibly from certain death, and he abdicated in favor of 
his son, the present king, in sight of the victorious enemy, 
and fled from his kingdom and died broken hearted. 



LETTER NO. XXIV. 

Lyons, October, 1850. 

Adjoining the State apartment in the Palace of the King 
of Piedmont, at Turin, is the Armeria Royal, containing a 
curious collection of the armory of the middle ages. It is 
far more extensive and interesting than the Hall of Knights 
at the White Tower, London. Here we saw the Duke E- 
manuele Filiberte in his full suite of armor, just as he ap- 
peared at the battle of St. Quentin, and the cuirass of Prince 
Eugene, worn at the battle of Turin, and that worn by king 
Carlo Emanuele III., at the battle of Guastalla, 1734. We 
saw, among other curiosities, three small triangular bladed 
stilettos, such as Italian ladies wear, or did wear in days of 
yore, to rid themselves of their husbands, &c. The Royal 
Gallery of Pictures and the Royal Academy, contain many 
treasures of art. Turin at the present time, is rather under 
the Pope's displeasure, and it would not be strange if he 
should shortly thunder from the Vatican a bull of excom- 
munication. 

A law was some time since promulgated, that the priest- 
hood should be subject to the same civil laws, and tried in 
the civil courts for an offence like other subjects. Former- 
ly they were tried, and punished or acquitted by an eccle- 
siastical court alone. Pietro di Santa Rosa, Prime Minis- 
ter, was supposed to be the instigator of this offensive pro- 
vision in the constitution. He died on the 5th of August 
last, and was refused extreme unction by his priest, unless 
he denounced the law and recalled his approbation of it. 

But he positively and perseveringly refused, and died un- 
9 



182 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

shrived. Santa Rosa was an amiable and extremely popu- 
lar man, and moreover, a good and firm Catholic, and this 
refusal of his confessor to grant him the usual rite of the 
church in his last extremity, so exasperated both King and 
the people, that what might have been a doubtful experi- 
ment before, will now become an unalterable law. * 

We heard in Genoa that Vittorio Emanuele was a mere 
boy; that he cared little for his people, and spent his time 
mostly in hunting and pleasure. In Turin, however, we 
heard another statement altogether. He is said to have re- 
ceived the crown from his father very reluctantly ; he is un- 
ambitious of power, and having been trained in the army, 
feels that his education entirely unfits him for the throne 
and for a court life. He is greatly beloved by the people 
generally, and idolized by the army. He is thirty-one years 
of age. The queen is an uncommonly lovely and interest- 
ing lady, and they have five children. He has selected the 
very best men in his kingdom to compose his Cabinet, and 
seems anxious for the best good of the people. We met a 
very beautiful and interesting lady in Turin, from New 
Jersey, America. She was consumptive, and had been re- 
commended to try the balmy air of Italy. She had been 
at Marseilles and other places in the South of France and 
Italy, and had now located herself for the winter in Tu- 
rin. But change of climate had not benefited her ; and the 
fatigues and discomforts and annoyances of traveling, and 
the want of many of those accustomed, nameless comforts, 
found only at home, and in one's native land, led her to de- 
claim most earnestly and feelingly, against the folly and 
cruelty of sending away invalids to foreign climes for their 
health. " Do undeceive people," she said, " about this mat- 



* The Pope has since, actually excommunicated the King of Piedmont 
and his whole Government from the Roman Church. 



LETTER NO. XXIV. 183 

ter, when you return. Tell them it is altogether a mistaken 
notion to send their friends to Italy for its balmy air and its 
sunny skies. The changes here are as sudden and inimi- 
cal to the consumptive patient, as in America ; the contrary 
opinion is all moonshine." We learned, when it was too 
late for our plans, that a ride of twenty-five miles only 
would have enabled us to have spent a Sabbath with the 
Waldenses, in their own valley. We, however, consoled 
ourselves for the disappointment, by attending the church 
of the Waldenses, lately established in Turin. There are 
several thousands of these far-famed people living in this 
city. At the present time, there are also many refugees 
here, from Austria, Lombardy, Tuscany and Rome ; the 
number is estimated at 8,000 families, or 40,000 souls. 

The sidewalks of the principal streets are very wide and 
many of them arched and roofed over, as at Berne, in 
Switzerland. All kinds of goods are displayed for sale on 
the sidewalks, and the people, as in other cities of Italy, 
seem to live and labor out doors. The hotels are excellent 
and well managed. We found one peculiarity at the table, 
which at first was quite a puzzle. By the side of every 
plate lay six or eight sticks, half a yard long, of the size of 
one's little finger and of a light brown color. " What are 
we to do with these things," thought I, as I quietly eyed the 
little wands, and ventured at length to turn them over and 
up to see what they were. But as I could not divine their 
quality or their use, I kept my eye on my neighbors to see 
what they did with them. What was my surprise to find 
they were made to eat, and to see a gentleman take one, 
and begining at one end, soon craunch it down like a piece 
of celery. As he seemed to be neither strangled or choked 
in the performance, I ventured upon the same experiment, 
and soon found it was the famous Piedmontees bread, called 
" Pane grissino," a kind of unbolted bread, which is very 



184 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

excellent and which I soon learned to like so well, that I 
was sorry to leave it. It is peculiar to Turin. After spend- 
ing a few days in this pleasant city, we engaged our seats 
in one of the diligences of Bonafous & Brothers, the best, 
it is said, in Italy, by way of Mt. Cenis, Chamberry and 
Lyons to Paris. These diligences are so aristocratic in 
their customs, that they never pass around to pick up their 
passengers like our stages, but you most present yourself, 
bag and baggage, with your ticket paid for and your seat 
numbered, at the Posthouse to claim your place; nor must 
you seat yourself till your name and number is called. 

We were to leave at 5 o'clock, p. m., and ride all night. 
Arriving early, we had a fine opportunity to observe the 
process of stowing away the baggage, which was a sight 
well worth seeing. Throughout Europe a carefulness and 
a faithfulness and an attention to all the minor matters of 
traveling is shown in all the great thoroughfares, which an 
American, I am sorry to say, does not always see at home. 
How often do we see a trunk pitched from a stage, regard- 
less which end is up, or whether it splits open, even, in the 
fall ! Here everything is handled with care. Our baggage 
was all rolled up in straw, every article separate, and so en- 
veloped that it could not chafe, and so carefully packed that 
it could not get loose. Had we been starting for the North 
Pole, it need not have been more securely stowed away. 

The country about Turin is very beautiful. We rode 
through an avenue of elms, six miles long, to Rivoli, a town 
of five thousand inhabitants. Our road to Susa, at the foot 
of Mt. Cenis, lay through the valley of the Doire and the 
great plain of Lombardy, sometimes called the Golden Val- 
ley, walled in by the Alps, dotted here and there with villages, 
showing up in the distance an occasional villa, or church or 
old palace, to render enchantment to the scene. The great 
beauty of the cattle in this region, and in fact, through all 



LETTER NO. XXIV. 185 

Italy, cannot fail to arrest the traveler's attention. The 
cows and oxen are mostly of a cream color or rich auburn, 
and are noble looking creatures. At our left stood the mo- 
nastery of San Michele on the Monte Pirichiano, one of 
the most remarkable monuments of Piedmont. Formerly, 
three hundred monks lived here, but it is now deserted and 
a ruin. One of the arches, it is said, still contains the dried 
corpses of many of these monks. Till within a short time, 
two rows of these mummies adorned the staircase to the 
gallery, and you must pass between these skeleton sentinels 
to go in. Nobody knows why they were thus placed, but 
they were venerated by the peasants, who occasionally dres- 
sed them up, placing fresh bouquets in their bony fingers. 

Not far from this is the Monte de Roccia Melone, 11,000 
feet high. On its summit is perched a chapel, dedicated to 
Notre Dame des Neiges, to which the inhabitants of Susa 
formerly made a pilgrimage every August. It is almost in- 
accessible, and the pathway was so dangerous, and the rari- 
ty of the air so great, and so many accidents happened, that 
the Virgin has now come down out of the clouds and holds 
her levee at Susa. The Rector of Mt. Cenis told a trave- 
ler that " many persons who ffell from the awful precipices 
over the crags to the rocks below, were so dashed to atoms 
that the largest piece of their bodies to be found was the 
ear. " 

Susa, although containing only 3,000 inhabitants, is a 
place of much interest, and is the seat of an Archbishop. 
It contains the celebrated arch of Augustus, built by Cottius 
eight years before Christ, the oldest monument of antiquity 
in this part of Italy ; and also the Fort of La Brunette, once 
an important fortress and the key of the valley. In the days 
of its greatest power, it is said, if a traveler stopped to look 
at it deliberately, he was told 'to pass on, ' so jealously was 
it guarded. From a gentle mist, when we left Turin, it be- 



186 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

gan to rain, and finally to sleet before we commenced the 
ascent of the mountains, and we were quite startled at see- 
ing a cart coming down with two inches of snow on the top. 
The idea of a snow storm on Mt. Cenis was anything but 
agreeable, and as we prepared to ascend the mountains, and 
eight mules were brought to be added to the six horses with 
which we left Turin, we began to realize the difficulty and 
danger of the ascent. It was now, moreover, night, and 
the snow flakes began to fall thick and fast. The moon 
was at the full, so that it was not dark ; and as we had se- 
cured the coupee, which is in front, with glass windows be- 
fore us and at the sides, we could dimly see enough to ter- 
rify the imagination as we wound about the edges of awful 
cliffs, and had an indistinct view of the deep dark gorges 
below. 

Our road was thirty feet wide, smooth and gently ascen- 
ding, and a thousand times did I bless the memory of Na- 
poleon Bonaparte, for his indomitable genius, enterprise and 
perseverance in forcing such a path through this wild and 
rugged country. But the frowning, bristling crags above, 
and the yawning chasms below, and the trackless waste be- 
fore us, and the increasing, drifting snow, waked up fearful 
memories of ancient tales. Avalanches, snow drifts, buried 
travelers, compassionate monks and sagacious dogs, all pas- 
sed in sad review before my excited fancy, and I longed for 
day break as some alleviation of our difficulties. It was 
some comfort to know that twenty-five houses of refuge were 
stationed up and down the mountain, from Susa on one side 
to Lanslebourg on the other. Persons are stationed here 
to keep the road in repair, and to afford assistance to tra- 
velers ; and in the most dangerous places, especially near 
the summit, these houses are not many rods apart. The 
snow increased ; we had not yet reached the summit, and 
daylight only revealed the growing drifts and the almost ut- 



LETTER NO. XXIV. 187 

ter impossibility of distinguishing the road in some places at 
a distance, except by the poles twelve feet high, stationed 
every few rods on the edge of the precipices, as a guard 
and a guide to the bewildered traveler. I could compre- 
hend the terror that must seize hold of the solitary wanderer, 
benumbed and benighted, and overtaken with one of the 
wild and raging tourmentes , or tempests, so common to this 
region, and felt if I could once safely emerge into the beau- 
ty and warmth of sunlight, I would never desire any further 
experience of an Alpine storm. Near Refuge No. 22, ava- 
lanches often fall, but the dangerous spot is passed in three 
or four minutes, and I breathed more freely after it was 
over. No. 20 is called La Ramasse ; and here sledges are 
constantly kept in readiness in the winter, with guides for 
any travelers who may prefer to take a slide down to Lan- 
slebourg in ten minutes, instead of going by the road, which 
takes an hour and a half. I could not but laugh at the idea 
of such a stupendous slide being preferred by some trave- 
lers to the longer route : the perpendicular descent is 2000 
feet. We were in sight of the Grand Croix, the culminat- 
ing point, which is 6,780 feet above the level of the sea. 
The cantonniers perform this sledge-trip with the utmost 
dexterity and safety, they think. We were told that an 
Englishman spent eight days here some years since, for the 
sole purpose of risking his neck by sliding down three times 
a day ! What would our school boys think of such a slide 
as that ! 

At length we reached the plain and lake of Cenis on the 
top of the mountain, and a beautiful place, I doubt not, it is 
during the brief stay of summer among them, which lasts but 
a few weeks. The lake itself is frozen over six months in 
the year, and the mountain peaks, which wall in this dell of 
beauty, are covered with snow the whole season. The lake 
is full of delicious trout, arid we found quite a little village, 



188 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

containing a hospice and barracks capable of containing 
one thousand soldiers, &c. At Grand Croix the descent be- 
gins, and we were astonished to see, instead of fourteen 
horses and mules which had brought us up, that only two 
horses were attached to the diligence to take us down. 

As we began to descend the mountain, and the snow 
storm abated, and the air grew clearer and warmer, and 
finally the snow melted into rain and the rain into mist, I 
could fully sympathize with Jfoah, when he looked out of 
the window of the ark and saw the waters abate, and the 
tops of the hills peep out, and finally the trees, and valleys, 
and grass appear, and once more stepped out on terra firma, 
into sunshine with gladness of heart. Thus did we, in less 
than two hours, emerge from winter's awful snows and all 
the accumulation of dangers and horrors that shroud these 
Alpine passes, into a valley of verdure, and beauty, and 
life, and warmth, when we found ourselves at the little vil- 
lage of Lanslebourg, inhabited by the rude cantonniers. 
Such a sudden transition from winter to summer, from dan- 
ger and terror to safety and delight, produces the most cu- 
rious effect on the mind imaginable. 



LETTER NO. XXV. 

Paeis, October, 1850. 
Our journey from the foot of Mt, Cenis to Paris was ac- 
complished in three days and nights, passing one night at 
Lyons. Our road lay through Chamberry, a town which 
contains about ten thousand inhabitants, and is the capital 
of Savoy. Before the French revolution there were twen- 
ty convents here ; now however, there are only seven. We 
found Lyons and its environs very beautiful ; the rivers 
Saone and Rhone, run through the city. It contains two 
hundred thousand inhabitants, and is the second city in 
France. At Lyons we met with a little incident, which, as 
it shows how travelers are often imposed upon, I will relate. 
Contrary to our usual custom, we had neglected to select 
our hotel from those names in our guide book before we 
stopped, and consequently we found ourselves at a loss to 
know where to go. A runner who could talk English imper- 
fectly, seeing us undetermined where to put up, recommend- 
ed a place, but not finding its appearance such as we liked, 
he promised to take us to the Hotel de Europe. Arriving 
at a hotel of inferior appearance, he said this was the one, 
and commenced taking our baggage. Confident that he 
was deceiving us, we told him so, and then pointed to the 
sign over the door, on which Hotel d'Orient blazed in large 
letters. He assured us, however, it was the Hotel de Eu- 
rope, and to convince us called the landlord. When the 
landlord appeared, he gave him a wink, and inquired if this 

was not the Hotel de Europe. The landlord replied promp- 
9* 



190 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

tly, with a smile, that it certainly was; of course we had 
nothing more to say, and took our rooms. We found out, 
notwithstanding, that we were deceived by the runner, who 
w T ished his fee from the landlord, and by the landlord who 
would not scruple to use any means to fill his house. It was 
tiie Hotel d'Orient. These runners obtain a compensation 
from the inn-keepers for every traveler they bring, and the 
landlords themselves stand in fear of the runner's displea- 
sure, lest they give a bad name to their hotels and lose 
custom in consequence. The only safe way is to turn a 
deaf ear to all agents and runners, and depend entirely up- 
on the traveler's Guide Book, with which every one should 
be supplied. Our sail up the Rhone from Lyons to Dijon 
was quite pleasant, not only on account of the number of 
villages we passed, but as giving an opportunity of a day's 
travel with many of the French people. The steamers on 
the Rhone are quite small, but handsomely finished and fur- 
nished. They have no regular meals on board, but have a 
coffee room, where each passenger can call for what he 
chooses at any hour. There is nothing peculiarly interesting 
in the scenery of the Rhone; it does not compare in any 
respect with the Rhine. From Dijon we proceeded to Cha- 
lons in the diligence, which was there put on the cars, and 

we entered Paris by the railroad. 

Paris is indeed a beautiful city, yet I must say I do not 

admire its public gardens and parks as I do those of Lon- 
don. There is a lack of cultivation and neatness and finish 
about them, which detracts greatly from their beauty. The 
Tuileries abound with wide and delightful walks, but the 
trees form too much of a shade and render it too forest- 
like for my taste. They shut out the sun, and of course very 
little grass grows beneath the foliage, and a ramble among 
the trees must be made amid dust and gravel, which is any- 
thing but agreeable. In England, the trees and parks are 



LETTER NO. XXV. l9l 

cultivated to a state of perfection, of which I had scarce a 
conception before. Every tree is perfect in shape, whether 
little or big, and not a dead limb or an ungraceful branch is 
to be seen. Thes ward underneath is like green velvet ; it 
looks, as Colman says, " as if it was combed with a fine 
tooth comb " daily, and the walks are constantly swept. I 
never saw anything so perfectly beautiful in nature, as some 
of the lawns and parks in England, which in a future letter, 
I shall describe. We domiciled ourselves at once at Meu- 
rice's Hotel, the far-famed resort of all English and Ame- 
rican travelers. This overlooks the garden of the Tuileries 
on the Rue de Rivoli, one of the finest streets in the city. 
Our lodging room is nearer the 'upper world* than any 
apartment it was ever before my privilege to occupy, being a 
journey of one hundred and twenty-one stairs from the 
street. These stairs, moreover, are waxed every morning 
and brushed till they shine like mirrors, and I never felt 
more deeply impressed with the importance and absolute 
necessity of 'taking, heed to my steps,' as the biole directs, 

than in my daily walks up and down at this hotel. 

One of our first rambles was, of course, through the Tui- 
leries. Here is to be found an assembled world almost 
every day, from 3 to 6, p . m. Thousands of chairs are 
spread about under the trees, and fathers, mothers, children 
servants, loafers, fashionables, and strangers of all tribes and 
tongues, are walking to and fro, or are seated in the shade 
in the most home-like manner imaginable. Ladies with and 
without bonnets, and in caps, are seated, sewing or knitting, 
in perfect ease and apparent enjoyment, occasionally raising 
their eyes to witness their childrens' gambols, and to chatter 
and laugh about some passing novelty. Children in lawns 
and laces crawl about in the dirt, utterly regardless of their 
finery — boys dressed in the height of fashion, lay down 
their canes and turn somersets in their best hats, or roll 



192 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

their hoops amid the crowd, to the consternation of jabber- 
ing fashionables who are promenading — girls are jumping 
the rope, or like fairies, dancing, or sailing about in the 
circles, singing ; and babies innumerable, beautiful as angels 
and dressed in the most costly and elegant manner, are pa- 
raded about to gratify their mother's and nurses' pride, and 
to awaken the notice and admiration of all spectators. Nev- 
er before did I see such an exhibition of domestic life out- 
doors, or such a display of home-scenery and enjoyment in 
a public promenade. And this is an every day scene, in 
pleasant weather. The French, like the Italians, live in 
the street. 

The great charm of the Tuileries is, that it is in the very 
heart of the city, and that you can step, in one moment, from 
the bustling crowd in the business streets, into this paradise 
of trees and flowers, of walks and statues, and fountains, 
which from its boundless extent as you look about, and the 
entire abandonment of its thousands of visitors to gaiety and 
pleasure, almost bewilders the stranger. Seventy acres are 
enclosed in this garden. The Palace of the Tuileries is at 
the eastern boundary of the garden, and if you stand at one 
end of the wide avenue that runs from the centre of the Pa- 
lace, you can look beyond the limits of the garden through the 
Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees, terminating 
with L'Arc de l'Etoile, erected to commemorate Napoleon's 
victories, a distance of two miles. It is a magnificent view. 

Soon after our arrival here, we went with the multi- 
tude, that poured into St. Roch, the richest church in Pa- 
ris, to witness the ceremonies of All Saints' day. It was 
with difficulty that we obtained a seat. Every one who was 
seated paid two sous for his chair. The singing on this oc- 
casion was very fine ; the greatest opera singer in Paris was 
there. The next day was All Souls' day, and we hastened 
with the crowd to Pere la Chaise. It was an unpleasant 



LETTER NO. XXV. 193 

day, nevertheless, thousands upon thousands visited this ce- 
metery to adorn with fresh wreaths and flowers the tombs of 
their friends. This famous burial place is on the northeast 
side of Paris, and contains one hundred acres, entirely wall- 
ed in. It is unlike any other cemetery I ever visited ; no 
more beautiful, however, in point of location and varied 
scenery than some in our own country, nor is it kept in 
as perfect order and arranged in as good taste as some in 
America. The number and costliness, and variety and 
beauty of its monuments, however, cannot fail to awaken 
admiration. Chapels, temples, pyramids, mausoleums, obe- 
lisks, and every variety of column, altar and urn elegantly 
ornamented, each, in their turn, attract attention and inter- 
est. One of the most beautiful monuments here is that of 
Abelard and Eloise, who died in the twelfth century. We 
visited the tombs of Generals St. Cyr and McDonald, of 
Marshal Suchet, Abbe Siccaud, Marshal Massena, General 
Gobert, the Russian Countess DemidofF, the Marchioness de 
Beauharnais, La Fontaine, La Place, Madame Genlis, and 
a host of others. From their graves I plucked a leaf or flow- 
er, Avhich the frost would soon have nipped, but was told 
afterwards, if I had been observed by any of the keepers, 
no friends or amount of money would have saved me 
from imprisonment, so strict are their rules and so sacredly 
held is every thing within this enclosure. We paused where 
the remains of Marshal Ney repose. No monument or in- 
scription marks it, but it is surrounded with a railing and 
laid out like a garden. The concourse of people that 
thronged Pere la Chaise on this great day was immense. 
All bore some offerings of affectionate remembrance, which 
were deposited in the little sepulchral chapels or laid on the 
tombs of the departed. Some were covered with a dozen 
or more wreaths, made of white or yellow flowers, which 
grow in the south of France, similar to our life-everlasting. 



194 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

These wreaths had inscribed on them, with the same flow- 
ers, colored black, " A ma mere," " A ma fille," &c. Cand- 
les were lighted and burning in all the temples and chapels, 
and chairs covered with black velvet, stood in the recesses 
of many tombs, at which we saw many mourners kneeling. 
Images of the Virgin and various Saints stood about the 
graves. There is certainly something very touching in this 
yearly visit to the sanctuary of the dead. We wandered 
about till nearly dark, and then returned to our hotel. Blocks 
of houses in Paris are many of them built in a manner en- 
tirely different from those of our own country, and so are 
the hotels. They are built in the form of a hollow square, 
with only one entrance from the street, through an arch 
wide enough for the passage of two carriages abreast. The 
huge door or gate of this arch is closed at dark, and there 
is no admittance except by ringing a bell which is answer- 
ed by the porter. Five families, too, occupy a house five 
stories high, each family appropriating one story to them- 
selves, parlors, kitchens and chambers, all being in the same 
range of apartments. We dined with a friend living in one 
of these blocks. It was dark when we arrived at the great 
entrance, and we rang for admittance. No sooner had we 
touched the bell than the massive gate flew open, noiseless- 
ly and magically to us, for no living creature could be seen. 
" Did you open that gate ? " said I to my companion almost 
terrified at the mysterious manner in which it opened for us 
to enter. The reply was in the negative ; and when we 
reached the porter's lodge, we found that, by means of a 
pulley in his own room, he had opened the gate without 
troubling himself to move from his chair. 

We found about thirty houses arranged around the sides 
of this hollow square, each five stories high, and occupied 
by one hundred and fifty families, their rent varying from 
three to five hundred dollars each. Mr. A. lived in the 



LETTER NO. XXV. 195 

first tier of apartments, Mr. B. in the, second, and so on, 
each family with its own door plate and bell in the entry of 
the story to which they belonged. One porter only is em- 
ployed by all the families in the square. He shows every 
comer to the family for whom he inquires. There are five 
reservoirs of water in Paris, but it is not conveyed by pipes 
to the houses. Families have no hydrants as with us, but 
are supplied with all the water they use by water-carriers, 
who go around daily with casks, and leave it in such quan- 
tities as families wish, they paying for it as we do for milk. 
It is estimated that 4,000,000 francs, or somewhere about 
8800,000 of our money, is yearly paid by the inhabitants of 
Paris, to the water-carriers. " And how do you manage 
for water for family washings ? " inquired I of one lady. 
"No family does its own washing," she replied, "our clothes, 
even our servants', are sent into the country to be washed 
every week. It is done better and cheaper out of the house." 
Female servants receive from $4 to $6 per month, besides 
their wine daily, or its equivalent in money. Dressmakers 
very seldom go out into families; they do their work at their 
own rooms. A seamstress to do plain sewing can be hired 
for thirty cents a day, if she finds her own 'nourrice,' as she 
calls it, and for twenty-five cents if she has her board. 

In my next I will give you some account of the Lou- 
vre, the Palace of Versailles, of the Sevres Porcelain Fac- 
tory, &c. 



196 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. XXVI. 

Paris, November, 1850. 

The Tuileries, as its name implies, was a tile-field five 
hundred years ago ; but on becoming the property of Cathe- 
rine de Medicis, she built here an edifice in 1564, since 
which time it has been the residence, at various periods, of 
Henry IV., Louis XIII. , Louis XIV., the Duke of Orleans 
during the minority of Louis XV., of Napoleon, and final- 
ly of Louis Philippe. Its historical associations and recol- 
lections render it a place of deep interest to the traveler. 
Since Louis Philippe's flight in February, 1848, it has been 
used for various purposes, and during the revolution was so 
injured and pillaged, that its glory has departed. The 
Place du Carrousel forms its inner court, and the Palace of 
the Louvre encloses two sides of it. In this court, Napo» 
leon used to review his troops, and in it stands a splendid 
triumphal arch erected by Bonaparte in 1806. 

The national museum in the Louvre contains the most 
exquisite productions of taste and skill, innumerable objects 
of antiquity and art, and such a variety of models of every 
thing, that is supposed to be " in heaven above, or that is in 
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth," 
that days, instead of hours, are necessary to walk through 
the miles of rooms it contains, and to view with any minute- 
ness the treasures amassed within its walls. 

It was a rich treat to examine the earliest paintings of 
the middle ages, and to see the best productions of the 
French, Flemish, German and Italian schools. The Grand 
Salon, which is said to be the largest and best lighted room 



LETTER NO. XXVI. 197 

for exhibition in the world, is filled with nearly three thou- 
sand pictures of the greatest deceased masters. This salon 
is one thousand three hundred and twenty-two feet in length 
and forty -two feet in width, and the pictures are — some of 
them — of immense size. I was bewildered and enchanted 
with all I saw. I cannot give you any conception of the 
vast wilderness of specimens of art that met our eyes. Jew- 
els, vases, cups, porcelain, mirrors, cameos and precious 
stones, of every variety and of immense value, fill many 
rooms. A few articles, once belonging to the toilet of Ma- 
rie de Medicis, are valued at thousands and thousands of 
pounds. The carvings in ivory by the Chinese are mar- 
velous specimens of skill. It seemed as if we saw all the 
birds, fishes and animals that had been created since the 
flood, stuffed and paraded before us; and all the ships, 
boats and water crafts that the ingenuity of human inven- 
tion had ever contrived, and models of every machine that 
could be adapted to human purposes, and all the sphynxes 
and winged bulls and busts, and statues that Pompeii and 
Nineveh and other buried cities have ever yielded up to 
mortal sight. 

What a wonderful creature is man, after all ! I often ex- 
claimed involuntarily, and of what boundless ingenuity and 
almost infinite skill is he possessed ! One day at the Lou- 
vre was all the time we could afford. 

We visited Sevres, four miles west of Paris, where the 
famous porcelain manufactory is located. 

I suppose there is no similar establishment equal to it in 
the world. Indeed I had no idea that any thing so exqui- 
sitely beautiful in the shape of porcelain ware, could be 
wrought by human hands, as some of the specimens which 
were shown us. We wandered through its museum, con- 
taining nearly ten thousand articles collected from China, 
Japan and India, Piedmont, Tuscany, Prussia, Venice and 



198 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

other cities in Italy, from England, Netherlands, Spain, 
Portugal, Saxony, Austria, Bavaria, and so on. We saw 
models of all the ornamental vases, services, statues and 
figures that have been made here since its establishment, 
more than a hundred years ago. After looking at all the spe- 
cimens of pottery, earthen ware, delf -ware, stone-ware, &c, 
gathered from all quarters of the globe, I asked the attendants 
to show me something from our own country, the United 
States. I could not help laughing, though I was vexed, when 
he showed me an old fashioned slate inkstand that would 
weigh a quarter of a pound, full of pen holes, such as many 
years ago I had seen in the old-fashioned school houses of 
New Hampshire. This manufactury is sustained by gov- 
ernment. The painters employed are of the highest order, and 
the number of workmen exceeds one hundred and eighty. 
This porcelain is formed of kaolin, from Limoges, sand, al- 
kali, saltpetre and clay. The enamel is obtained from felds- 
path. After passing through the hands of the greatest 
painters of landscapes, portraits, &c, the colors are baked 
in by a peculiar process. The show rooms are magnificent. 
I gazed at one splendid picture, not large, in a beautifully 
gilded frame, till I was half crazy to own it. It was a re- 
presentation of a young and lovely girl, beautiful in death, 
and robed for the grave ; her attendants stood in such ap- 
parent anguish that my own heart was melted — and above 
was traced in delicate letters, "like a flower I have perished 
and passed away." The design, execution and finish of 
this picture were exquisite. I know not how long I had 
stood before this painting, lost in admiration, and consider- 
ing how I could carry it home, and trying to persuade my- 
self, not only that I wanted it so much I must have it, but 
that I could afford it, as I had not yet purchased one among 
the thousands I had coveted. In imagination I transplanted 
it to my own home, and felt that I should be satisfied if I 



LETTEK NO. XXVI. 199 

had this one gem of art, if I could never afford another. So 
I called the attendant, full of hope and strong purpose to 
call it mine, and inquired its price ; I was struck dumb with 
astonishment when he replied, "The price, Madame, is 
30,000 francs," $6,000. I concluded at once not to buy it, 
and giving it one despairing, farewell glance, I turned about 
to gaze at others with a subdued imagination. 
^.Versailles is about eight miles southwest of Paris. Its Pa- 
lace and gardens are beautiful; and its collection of histo- 
rical pictures, statues and busts, portraits of royal families, 
views of royal residences, marine gallery, &c, deserve se- 
veral visits to be appreciated. 

I was told there were about twelve miles of rooms in the 
several stories of this palace, and determined to set my eyes 
on all. I was obliged, for want of time, to go through some 
of the departments almost on the full run. Here you may 
see and be introduced by catalogue to all the Kings and 
Queens of France, from Pharamond to Charles X. I paid 
my respects to the court beauties of several centuries. I 
admired some and laughed at others. I experienced the 
various emotions of dislike, contempt, scorn, &c, or of com- 
placency, admiration and reverence, as I remembered the 
history or read the hearts of many heroes of olden time 
in the faces that looked down upon me. I was wonderful- 
ly amused at the costumes of different periods, and the cu- 
rious appearance of many of the little sprigs of nobility 
that had stood up so prim on these walls for years. I felt 
quite at home in this vast and quaint assembly of lords and 
ladies, and should have been delighted to have spent a week 
at least, in their society. Still a feeling of melancholy crept 
over me, as I remembered what they were once, full of life 
and gaiety, and that they were now unmourned and forgot- 
ten by all earth's present millions. The historical paintings 
introduced us to the warriors of other times, and we were 



200 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

hurried into scenes of battle, naval and military, till we grew 
warlike from sympathy. The views of royal residences 
were representations of the past, rather than of the present — 
of edifices and localities as they once excisted, and of cos- 
tumes of other centuries. Here we saw Napoleon in his 
youth and in his prime — in war and in peace — at the head 
of armies and at the head of his family. We saw him in 
his boyhood with his mother, at his nuptials, in the days of 
his greatest power, and with his son. We followed him 
through all his battles but his last; his victories are all per- 
petuated, but his defeat and downfall are not remembered 
here. The chapel is a magnificent spectacle. It is said 
that Louis XIV. concentrated all the grandeur and taste of 
the age in the embellishment of this one place. Besides 
the interest it possesses as giving a just idea of the style 
and magnificence of those times, it must be remembered 
that many remarkable religious ceremonies took place here, 
among the rest, in front of this altar were celebrated the 
nuptials of: Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, in 1769. 
The paintings, marbles, mosaics, statues, &c, are superb. 
The organ is called the finest in France. Every Sunday a 
service is held here. We were shown in the palace the 
bed-chamber of Louis XIV. Everything is magnificent 
and in perfect order, and remains just as it was when he 
was carried from it to his grave. We saw the bed on which 
he died, with the same coverlet and hangings. Nobody 
has slept in the room since his death. The clock points to 
the hour and the moment when his decease occurred. To 
see the private apartments of Marie Antoinette, a special 
permit is necessary. In the Grande Salle des Gardes is to 
be seen David's great picture of Napoleon's Coronation, for 
which the painter received 100,000 francs. The Hall of 
1792, as it is called, introduces you to all the military char- 
acters of the revolution of 1789; and in the Hall of 1830, 



LETTER NO. XXVI. 201 

you find all the principal events of that revolution, pictured 
before you. I cannot even allude to the numerous rooms 
at which we glanced, but suffice it to say, that I felt, when I 
left the palace of Versiilles, that I had had a magnificent 
dream, in which I had seen the faces of the dead and living 
of all ages, had been a looker-on in scenes of public gaiety 
and of private court life, of sorrow, revolution and blood- 
shed ; had moved in the circles of royalty and splendor till 
I was satisfied; in short, that I had passed through the 
scenes of a lifetime in a day. 

The gardens and park here form a little paradise. Jets 
d'eau of every conceivable variety are playing. You are 
surrounded by nymphs and cherubs, gods and heroes, saints 
and sinners, and may wander amid green houses of surpas- 
sing beauty, and feel that while the interior of the palace is 
the perfection of art, its gardens are the perfection of na- 
ture. One of the orange-trees here was produced from the 
seed in 1421 ; after flourishing under eighteen reigns and 
blooming in beauty 430 years, it is still likely to live to a 
good old age, a sort of Methusaleh among the trees. Its 
branches are enchied by iron rings to support their weight. 
The fountains are distinguished by the names of the Gran- 
des Eaux and' the Petites Eaux. The former never play 
exception great occasions, and are always announced in the 
public prints. Every time they play, it costs about 10,000 
francs. One of the fountains in these gardens is said to 
have cost 1,500,000 francs. Le Grand Trianon, and le 
Petit Trianon the traveler must be sure to visit. The form- 
er is a villa at the extremity of the park, built by Louis XIV. 
for Madame Maintenon. I shall not describe it, but its de- 
corations are elegant, and the grounds about it are laid out 
into labyrinths, and with its fountains and statues, to a lover 
of the beautiful, is a bewitching place. The servants who 
show these apartments have many interesting stories to tell. 



202 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Le Petit Trianon was built by Louis XV. for Madame du 
Barri. These mansions can be seen only by showing a 
passport. I will here add the fact, that in the museums of 
Paris, (the Louvre and Versailles,) there are annually sold 
200,000 catalogues at one franc, an4 100,000 at two francs ; 
100,000 francs more are taken for depositing canes, um- 
brellas and parasols. The net revenue from these sources 
is upwards of 300,000 francs a year, or about $60,000 of 
our money. As we returned to the city we had a passing 
view of St. Cloud, but had not time to visit it, which we 
much regretted. By the side of the railroad, the country 
was covered for miles with sheets, shirts and clothing, by 
acres, on lines, to dry, the washings of the city being per- 
formed in this region. 



LETTER NO. XXVII. 

Paris, November, 1850. 

I find there is no end to sight-seeing in this magnificent 
city. The markets, bridges, aqueducts, fountains, monu- 
ments, parks and gardens, churches, palaces, charitable in- 
stitutions, cemeteries, &c, are either so beautiful in them- 
selves, so interesting from association, or so useful and com- 
mendable in design, that the traveler who has leisure, is 
amply repaid if he visits them all. I do not, however, in- 
tend to exhaust your patience, or that of your readers, by 
descriptions of a tithe even, of the wonders and beauties that 
filled us with admiration, but will only speak of a few of 



LETTER NO. XXVII. 203 

the many. One of the first places to which we naturally- 
resorted, was the burial place of Lafayette, the man whom 
Americans have delighted to honor, and whose memory is 
enshrined in a million of temples " not built with hands," 
imperishable ■ — the temples of grateful American hearts. I 
had seen him in my young days, when the homage of a na- 
tion Was laid at his feet, and he was overwhelmed with 
blessings and praises ; flowers were strewed in his path, and 
smiles illuminated his steps, and I would feign see the last 
resting place accorded to him by his nation. We drove to 
Rue de Picpus, No. 15, once a Convent of the order of 
St. Augustin, and now occupied by the Ladies of the Sa- 
cred Heart. Within the walls of this establishment is a 
small private cemetery, a forlorn, uncultivated enclosure, con- 
taining, perhaps, fifty graves, in which repose a few noble 
French families. And here, in this man-forsaken, uncared 
for spot, was Lafayette's grave, marked by a plain, simple 
white marble slab, raised a few inches only from the ground; 
his wife's remains lie besides him and those of Geo. Wash- 
ington Lafayette, his son. Not a shrub or flower, or testi- 
mony of respect, admiration or regard, or any mark of spe- 
cial culture gave token, that here a great man was buried. 
No memento of the spot could I gather but a vile weed, 
that I dug out of the ground at the head of the grave. I 
was ashamed of France, that one of her greatest and purest 
of nature's noblemen, should sleep so unhonored, so forgot- 
ten, so neglected. Had he fallen in America, he would 
not have been buried in a corner, nor would the traveler be 
compelled to stoop to the earth to read the inscription on 
his tombstone. 

We turned our steps towards the Pantheon, which is beau- 
tifully located and has a most stately appearance. Here 
stood, formerly, the church of Ste. Genevieve, the patron 
Sainte of Paris. Ste. Genevieve was buried here in 512. 



204 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

When the old church became dilapidated, Louis XV. erect- 
ed the present one in its site, on the greatest scale of mag- 
nificence. It is not yet one hundred years old. The cost 
of it was defrayed by a lottery. Eleven steps, the whole 
length of the front of the building, give access to the porti- 
co, which is supported by six Corinthian columns sixty feet 
high, above which is a triangular pediment, with a very 
beautiful composition in relief, designed by David. 

It represents France, in a figure fifteen feet in height, 
distributing honors to several of her great men, among 
whom are Fenelon , Malesherbes , Mirabeau , Voltaire , 
Rousseau, Lafayette, David, &c, on her right hand, and 
on her left are figures representing soldiers, with Napoleon 
in front. History and Liberty are represented as sitting at 
the feet of France, inscribing the names of great men, and 
weaving chaplets to adorn them. The interior is beautiful- 
ly finished with bas-reliefs, allegorical paintings, statues, 
&c. The dome was painted by Gros: he received one hun- 
dred thousand francs for it, and so delighted was Charles 
X. on visiting the church, that he created the painter a ba- 
ron. The series of vaults under the church are well worth 
a visit. We were amazed at the massive structure of the 
walls and vaulted roof. Some of the stones are fifty feet 
long, and are constructed without any kind of cement. 
Here, in temporary sarcophagi, are the remains of Voltaire 
and Rousseau. Marshal Lannes, Marat and Mirabeau, 
were buried here. The two last have been removed, by 
order of the National Government, and Marat was thrown 
into a common sewer, a fitting grave for so bad a man. 
We ascended the dome and were repaid with a splendid 
view of Paris, the finest, it is said, to be had, as this is the 
most elevated building in the city. 

We visited the Hotel des Invalides. Of this institution 
France may well be proud. Its design is grand. The edi- 



LETTER NO. XXVII. 205 

fice covers sixteen acres, and encloses fifteen courts. The 
Hotel will hold five thousand invalids ; it has now only three 
thousand. The number of officers is said to be one hun- 
dred and seventy. At the head of the establishment is Mar- 
shal Jerome Bonaparte, ex- King of Westphalia. There 
are twenty-six Sisters of Charity here, and two hundred and 
sixty servants, of all kinds. I cannot describe the feelings 
with which I viewed the inmates. None are admitted, ex- 
cept such as are disabled by wounds, or have served thirty 
years. Such a variety of deformities I never before saw. 
Scarcely a perfect man is to be found. Some are without 
arms, some with one leg, or with a wooden one, or with no 
legs at all. The maimed, the halt, the lame and the blind, 
can here condole together. One old soldier, a Pole, named 
Kolombeski, 120 years of age, has just been admitted. He 
has been in service seventy-five years, and seen ten forms 
of government in France. We conversed with several of 
the old soldiers, who knew Napoleon, and it was exceeding- 
ly interesting to see how their faces brightened up at Bo- 
naparte's name. The accommodations for the invalids are 
excellent. They all dress in uniform, but their only duty 
is to mount guard in their turn. Every soldier receives pay 
by the month, to the end of his life, besides his board, cloth- 
ing and wine. If any soldier does not consume his allow- 
ance, he can receive an equivalent in money; if he has no 
legs, he can have money instead of shoes. Every one 
seems contented and happy. This is his home for life ; he 
has every comfort and convenience, and it is no small mat- 
ter to live in such a beautiful place, and look out daily on 
such beautiful things as are in. view. The Library, found- 
ed by Napoleon, contains 17,000 volumes, and consists of 
works of all kinds. In the council chamber and adjoining 
hall, are many drawings and paintings and portraits of illus- 
trious men. 

10 



206 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUBOPE. 

Fifteen hundred pounds of meat are boiled here every 
day, besides what is used in soups, and sixty bushels of ve- 
getables are a daily allowance. On one spit, is cooked a 
nice little roast of four hundred pounds at a time. 

The church, connected with this institution, possesses much 
interest, because here is Napoleon's tomb. It is not yet fin- 
ished, and the work is concealed from view, as you enter 
the church, by an immense painting, nearly covering one 
end of the church. We used all the most refined and ap- 
proved arts of Yankeedom to gain a peep at the work in 
progress, but in vain. Even the potent argument, that we 
had used in other countries with such success, and that had 
served as a talisman, so magical as to break down all rules 
and regulations in other places, namely, that we were Ame- 
ricans, was " no go " here. So we turned away in disap- 
pointment, and amused ourselves with examining the flags 
taken in war, which are thickly ranged on all sides of the 
church. Most of them are African trophies, among which 
are the parasol of command and other colors taken from 
Morocco in 1844. In Napoleon's time, it is said, 3,000 
flags filled the nave of this church, but on the evening be- 
fore the allied armies entered Paris, in March 1814, they 
were burnt by order of Joseph Bonaparte. Thrice was the 
command given before it was obeyed. 

We paid a visit also, to the manufactory of the Gobelin 
Tapestry. This has been a royal establishment since 1604. 
We passed through three rooms filled with specimens of the 
tapestry of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, most 
of which were executed here. I could not have believed 
any process, short of painting, could render objects so life- 
like and beautiful. There are six rooms in which are twen- 
ty-five looms at work. None of these carpets are ever sold. 
They have been made solely and expressly for royalty to 
walk upon, and who will tread over the future carpets of 



LETTEKNO. XXVII. 207 

this factory is a problem in the present state of things in 
France. The colors and shading of these carpets are per- 
fectly beautiful. The designs are the productions of some 
of the most exquisite painters of the age. Some of these 
carpets it takes ten years to weave, and they cost 150,000 
francs. Now, Messrs. Editors, you will certainly think I am 
becoming more moderate in my desires, and making a feeble 
effort at least, to be reconciled and conformed to my con- 
dition in life, when I tell you that I did not even wish for 
one of these $30,000 carpets to put in my parlor with that 
beautiful picture that I thought so strongly of buying at Se- 
vres. It is said the largest carpet ever made here, was for 
the gallery of the Louvre, containing seventy-two pieces 
thirteen hundred feet long. 

There are one hundred and twenty workmen in this es- 
tablishment, and when disabled by age or infirmity, they 
receive a pension of six hundred or one thousand francs 
from Government. There are rooms devoted to the pro- 
cesses of preparing and dyeing the wool ; also a school of 
design ; and in the winters, a course of lectures on chemis- 
try, applicable to the art of dyeing, is delivered here. 

In our wanderings about this great city, we are often 
compelled by weariness and want of refreshment, to stop at 
the restaurants and cafes, to rest and refresh ourselves. It 
is astonishing to see how numerous these establishments 
are, and how much they are frequented by ladies and gen- 
tlemen. Some of them are most elegantly furnished, and 
everything that can gratify the palate, can be had at a few 
moments' warning. For nearly a hundred years, these 
places of refreshment have been in vogue. It is said that 
they were commenced in the following way: A certain per- 
son prepared a room for refreshments and put on his sign 
this parody of a passage from the Bible : " Venite ad me 
omnes qui stomacho laboratis, et ego restaurabo vos." He 



208 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

was successful in his attempt, and from that day to this, es- 
tablishments of every kind hav^e been increasing. At ma- 
ny of the best of these houses, a good dinner can be had 
for two francs. In many, a dinner of soup, two dishes of 
meat, a dessert and wine can be had for twenty-two sous. 
A person can live in Paris in a very comfortable and res- 
pectable manner, for much less than in the cities of our own 
country. Apartments, ready furnished, are always to let, 
and there are persons caUed "traiteurs," whose business it 
is to send dinners, ready dressed to order. Unfurnished 
apartments can also be obtained, and furniture hired from 
the upholsterers. This, where persons remain three months 
or more, is said to be the most independent and economical 
plan. In visiting many of the curiosities of the place, it is 
desirable to hire a valet de place, who can talk both French 
and English, who can point out and explain many things, 
which you would not see or learn alone. Their charge is 
five or six francs a day. There are some antiquities in 
Paris, which it is well worth the while to see. It was dis- 
covered in the last century, that some portions of Paris 
were sinking, and it was ascertained that 200 acres or more 
had, in ancient times, been used as quarries, and that many 
roads, churches, palaces, and buildings of various lands, 
which had been erected over those cavities underground, 
were in danger of being enguiphed. Engineers were em- 
ployed to examine and prop up the buildings so endanger- 
ed, and the thought occurred that these quarries could be 
converted into catacombs ; accordingly in 17S6 they were 
consecrated for that purpose, and many cemeteries were 
emptied of their contents, and the bones of the dead of ages 
gone by, were removed to this place. It is supposed the 
remains of at least 3,000,000 of human beings are here de- 
posited. They are not buried, but piled up fancifully and 
systematically as in the catacombs of Rome, and there are 



LETTEH SOL XXVm. 209 

rooms in which all manner of tasteful levices, formed of 
skulls and bones of different sizes may be seen. There is 
said to be some danger in visiting- this horrible charnel- 
house, lest the roof may cave in. It is supposed by many 
that these excavations run under one-sixth part of the city, 
as variations of surface and extraordinary fissures in the 
earth, are constandy taking place. 



LETTER NO. XXVIII. 

Paris. November, 1850. 

I iris far surpasses London in the architectural beauty 
and taste of its palaces and public edifices. The external 
appearance of the Louvre is magnificent. I have 
none superior this side of the Alps. The Palace of the 
Luxembourg is a beautiful edifice, and contains many fine 
paintings. We visited the Palais Bourbon, now used by 
the National Assembly. "^Vhat hosts of recollections press- 
ed upon us as we found ourselves within its vr:._5 ! What 
revolutionary scenes have been enacted here ! T : what 
wordy contests have these wails echoed ! TViat tumult, and 
uproar, and confusion, and clamor have raged here, filling 
many hearts with the most distressing apprehensions and 
agonizing fears. The old Chamber of Deputies, no longer 
used, but shown to visitors, is a beautiful apartment of semi- 
circular form, containing five hundred seats, rising in gia 
dation and encircling the tribune. If is all fitted up in crim- 
son velvet and gold. I took the seat once occupied by Na- 



210 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

poleon, and lately by Louis Philippe, and felt sufficiently 
inspired to have delivered a speech most feelingly if not elo- 
quently, on the vanity of all human affairs. 

The hall which is now used is temporary and exceeding- 
ly plain in all its arrangements. Over the President's chair 
are these words: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. And these 
words greet you throughout Paris, at every corner and on 
almost every object. 

As to Churches, the Madeleine is the most beautiful I 
have seen here. St. Roch, St. Eustache and Notre Dame 
de Loretto, are greatly famed for their music. In the form- 
er, on All Saints day, I witnessed the greatest pageantry I 
have ever seen any where. The music was exquisite. The 
greatest opera singer in Paris was there, among others, to 
entertain us. Nothing could exceed the splendor and ele- 
gance of the lace and golden robes worn on this occasion, 
or the solemn nonsense of the ceremonies that passed in 
review. Candles, and show-bread, and staves were march- 
ed around and about, to the great delight of the children in 
the crowd, at least, and certainly to the wonder and aston- 
ishment of all such novices as myself, who could neither 
understand the use or propriety of such puerile exhibitions, 
except as giving us an opportunity to examine more minute- 
ly the magnificence of the priests' robes, and to allow us 
a passing glance at the handsome priests themselves, which 
of course, was very gratifying to all of Eve's daughters who 
chanced to be there. Nothing interested me more, how- 
ever, than the multifarious manoeuvres of the Marshal of 
the day. I never fully comprehended the idea of "magni- 
fying one's office before." I finally concluded this man 
must have been expressly created for the position he held. 
He was one of the most magnificent specimens of mankind 
I ever met, and was dressed in gorgeous regimentals, which 
were very becoming ; and as he marched about in a man- 



LETTER NO. XXVIII. 211 

ner more stately than can be described, before his look and 
his crook, every individual, man, woman and child retreat- 
ed as far into nothingness as their materiality would per- 
mit. I could not find out who he was. But it is a blessed 
thing to see a man, anywhere, who has found out his vo- 
cation, and who fills it to perfection. 

There are said to be 42,000 Catholic clergymen in France 
besides 8,000 or 9,000 Theological students intended for 
the priesthood. The salary of the Archbishop of Paris is 
forty thousand francs — a salary not to be compared to that of 
the Archbishop of the established church in England. There 
are 3,000 Convents in France, and 24,000 nuns. Of the 
clergy of other persuations, there are 411 Calvinists, and 
230 Lutherans, and 8 Jewish Rabbins. The Church of Eng- 
land has 40 ministers in France, and there are 86 ministers 
of other denominations. There are many Americans in 
Paris, and a church for American Presbyterians is greatly 
needed and desired. We attended the Wesleyan Church, 
where service was held in English. The room was small 
and poor. There are all sorts of charitable institutions here, 
and it is said they are admirably conducted. Among them, 
is an institution in the Rue de Reuilly, called the " Maison 
des Diaconnesses." They are Protestant Sisters of Cha- 
rity, whose office is to attend the sick-beds of Protestants 
in the various hospitals of Paris. Another is called "L'E- 
tablissement des Filatures." This gives work to three thou- 
sand and eight hundred poor women, who receive hemp to 
spin and are paid a certain sum. They have also one hun- 
dred and sixty weavers, whose looms and tools are gratui- 
tously supplied. 

Another, of unspeakable benefit to poor women with 
young children, bears the name of "Creches," or Nurseries. 
The mothers deposit their babies there at half past five in 
the morning, returning to them occasionally during the day, 



212 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

and taking them home at eight o'clock at night, paying 
twenty centimes (about four cents,) a day to have them 
taken care of. Each baby has a basket to itself. They 
receive about seventy children daily. A matron superin- 
tends, with six assistants. The Foundling hospital in Rue 
d'Enfer, No. 74, receives an immense number of children 
annually. There is a box, called a "tour," in the wall near 
the gate, in which the baby to be deserted was formerly 
dropped, and after ringing a bell, the heartless mother ab- 
sconded; no one was seen, and no questions were asked. 
The box was turned round on a pivot and the child was 
taken in. Of late years, this plan of reception has been 
abolished, but infanticide has so increased since this clan- 
destine mode of leaving the children has been dispensed 
with, that public opinion is now strongly in favor of the old 
plan. I found a discussion and report on this subject, in 
one of the Parisian papers, from which I had intended to 
make some extracts, but have mislaid it. The healthy chil- 
dren are alone retained in the hospital, and the number ge- 
nerally is about one hundred and seventy ; but the youngest 
and feeblest ones are placed in the country to nurse, and 
the number generally out at nurse is thirteen thousand J* 
The expenditures of this institution amounted in 1848 to 
two hundred and seventy -five thousand six hundred and for- 
ty-two dollars, or more than a million of francs. There is 
one room, called the reception room, in which all the new 
comers are placed. After the visit of the physicians, they 
are assigned to one of four infirmaries — for medical cases, 
surgical cases, measles, or ophthalmic cases. Cradles are 



* In all my statements of figures, I do not speak at random or from hearsay, 
but am indebted to printed statistical tables, which I have found in the coun- 
tries I have visited. 



LETTER NO, XXVIII. 213 

placed around the room, and several nurses are in atten- 
dance. One child in four dies. 

It is as good as a feast to go "shopping" in Paris, or ra- 
ther, to go about looking in the windows, which is the saf- 
est and most economical way, if you have not a long purse. 
The French certainly bear the palm in ingenuity of inven- 
tion : they can make anything out of nothing, and of many 
nothings they can make the most beautiful thing in the 
world to look at, and yet, when you come to examine it, it 
is nothing after all — the simplest things in the world which 
any body could have made, and you are almost tempted to 
think you are a fool, never to have tried the experiment. 
Some of the shops cover immense squares, with innumer- 
able doors on each side. I popped into several of these 
doors to enquire for articles, and finding myself always in 
the same place, till quite annoyed by the ubiquity of the 
concern, I passed into another street, and after trying se- 
veral doors with the same result there, I concluded the firm 
was an omnipresent one, and I would shop in another part 
of the city. Some of the stores always looked tolerably 
well filled with customers — ladies standing about elegantly 
dressed. I laughed heartily one day, after waiting very pa- 
tiently and politely for a lady next to me at the counter to 
finish her business, and becoming quite provoked at her 
quiet, stiff and stately manner, I turned towards her lady- 
ship to look her into more dispatch, and found her only a 
stuffed lady, created for the purpose of showing off an ele- 
gant mantilla. The clerk all the while was wondering, I 
suppose, at my leisurely way of making known my wants. 
Young women are found behind the counters in almost all 
departments of business. They are even employed as book- 
keepers, and receivers of the money in the cafes. 

10* 



214 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

The ladies have one custom here, which for house-keep- 
ers and mothers, struck me as admirable. It is in regard 
to receiving calls. A lady selects the day or evening which, 
on the whole, is most convenient or agreeable for her to see 

her friends, and issues her card accordingly: "Mrs. 

will be happy to see her friends on Thursday," or to this 
effect. She is therefore, devoted to calls that day, from 
twelve or one o'clock till ten or eleven in the evening. Ev- 
ery other day in the week she is mistress of her own time, 
and can make her calculations to suit her own convenience. 
I was assured by an American lady, who had adopted the 
custom, that it was far more pleasant to receive calls in this 
way, than to be in hourly expectation of visitors from sun- 
rise to sunset and after. People extend their calls to a 
later hour in the evening than with us. A gentleman made 
us a very fashionable call after eleven o'clock at night. We 
were so unaccustomed to the manners of polite society, that 
we had actually been a-bed and asleep a whole hour, when 
he left his card. 

The "Jardin des Plantes," founded by Louis XIII. in 
1635, is one of the places in Paris that every stranger must 
visit. The celebrated naturalist, Buffon, for many years 
superintended this beautiful garden, and devoted himself to 
its interests. The Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy here, 
is said to be the richest in the world, and is greatly indebted 
to Baron Cuvier for its arrangement, &c. Every thing, rare 
among plants, shrubs and trees from all quarters of the 
globe is to be found within this enclosure. More than 
twelve thousand species of plants are cultivated in the bota- 
nical department. 

The menagerie contains also every variety of animals, in 
enclosures, huts or sheds, suitable to their habits. Beauti- 
ful shady walks lead to their different habitations. Ten thou- 
sand specimens of birds are found in one gallery. There 




LETTER NO. XXVUI. 215 

is also a hot-house inhabited by snakes and reptiles, almost 
too odious to look at, living quite at home in their glass- 
cages. Several days would scarcely suffice to examine all 
the rare and curious things in this place. 

We paid a visit to the chapel of St. Ferdinand, erected 
on the spot where the Duke of Orleans expired in 1842. 
He was thrown from his carriage and died immediately af- 
ter. There is a beautiful marble group in one of the rooms 
representing the prince on his death-bed, and an angel sup- 
porting him, also in another department, a painting of all 
the members of the royal family as they are standing about 
the dying Prince; Louis Philippe, the Queen, and Princess 
Clementine, the Dukes of Aumale and Montpensier, Mar- 
shals Soult and Gerard and the Cure of Mery. It is a very 
touching as well as truthful scene. The Duke of Orleans 
was a universal favorite and most deeply mourned. Had 
he lived, how different probably, would now be the situation 

and prospects of France! 

We leave immediately by the railway for Boulogne and 

Folkstone, for London. You will hear from me next, at 

the great English Metropolis. 




216 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

,1 



LETTER NO. XXIX. 

London, November, 1850. 

Leaving Paris by railway, we reached Boulogne in six 
hours. We could not but laugh at a notice in the cars, in 
printed letters, which some wag had altered by erasing the 
word "not," to read thus, "Gentlemen are respectfully re- 
quested to smoke in the cars, and to put their feet on the 
cushions." This is a good sample of French drollery. The 
time occupied in crossing the English channel is not more 
than two hours, but it was sufficient to give me the most 
deeply experimental knowledge of sea-sickness which I ever 
wish to attain. From some cause or other, it is said sea- 
sickness is more general and more severe in this channel, 
than any where else. I was more dead than alive when I 
seated myself in the cars at Foulkstone for London. We 
were delighted to find ourselves once more where our 
native tongue was spoken, after having been so long a time 
strangers in strange lands. England seemed nearer and 
dearer than ever before. 

We are actually keeping house in London. We are in 
Northumberland Court on the Strand, just opposite Trafal- 
gar Square, in the Court End of the great metropolis. 
Northumberland Court is a narrow but clean and quiet 
place, containing not more than twenty houses, mostly own- 
ed by widows, who have apartments to let. We had no 
sooner installed ourselves in our new situation, than we re- 
ceived a call from the Rev. Mr. J. and family, of Brooklyn, 
New York, who occupy apartments in the same house, and 
intend to spend a year, traveling in Europe. 



LETTER NO. XXIX. 217 

For the amusement of your lady-readers, let me enter 
a little more minutely into my house-keeping arrangements. 
Our room is neatly furnished, with Brussels carpet, hair 
sofa and chairs, and centre table, having in it also a large 
mahogany wardrobe, apparently, but in reality, enclosing a 
bedstead, which turns down; our room, therefore, serves as 
a parlor by day, and a sleeping room at night. Our land- 
lady charges us two shillings, or fifty cents a day for our 
room, six-pence or twelve cents a day for service, and six- 
pence a week for the washing of bed and table linen. She 
furnishes also our crockery. By ringing a bell, I can sum- 
mon a fine-looking English damsel to set my table, go to 
market, &c. She then brings a teakettle of boiling water, 
with which I make tea on the table, English fashion. We 
take our breakfast and tea in our room, and our dinner in 
whatever part of London chance finds us ; for, as our bu- 
siness is seeing the world, we live mostly in the street. We 
find this quiet way of disposing of ourselves during our stay 
in the city, more pleasant, as well as more economical than 
paying ten dollars a day at Morley's Hotel, with a suite of 
rooms, and style and etiquette to match. We have milk 
sent to us, twice a day, from the Duke of Northumberland's 
dairy, and more beautiful rolls than I ever found in Ame- 
rica. The butter here as well as throughout the Continent, 
has not a particle of salt in it. Every body spreads the 
butter on the bread, and then sprinkles salt over it. The 
muffins we get hot from the bakeries, and the mutton and 
gooseberries we find here, are delicious, and surpass any 
thing of the kind I ever saw at home. The gooseberries 
are twice as large as they grow with us. 

We have dined out three times ; and as an English din- 
ner is somewhat different from an American one, I must 
tell you about it. The services, in one instance, commenced 
precisely at six o'clock, p. m., and we did not finish the va- 



218 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

rious courses of fish, fowl, meats, pastry and fruits for near- 
ly three hours. Every thing was then removed, but we 
remained. The table was then again covered, and tea, 
cakes, &c, were brought on. We sipped our tea and nib- 
bled away at our cakes, and chatted a long time, and then 
left the table. As we had an engagement at an early hour 
the next day, we prepared to leave about ten o'clock, quite 
to the surprise and disappointment of our friends, who beg- 
ged us to stay till after supper, which was just ready ! We 
had been eating nearly four hours then. 

At another dinner party of twenty-five persons, we had 
the pleasure of being served on Sevres porcelain, every 
plate of which cost twenty five dollars or more. Everything 
was handed on silver waiters, and we eat our dessert with 
golden teaspoons. Here we had an opportunity to taste the 
famous fish, sole, and another small fish, of which I have 
forgotten the name ; both are delicious. 

Our most stylish dinner was with Mr. ■ , member 

of Parliament, who lives in. an elegant place, quite removed 
from the bustle and noise of the city. We were received 
at the door by a handsome young gentleman, so elegantly 
whiskered and dressed in black, with white cravat, gold 
shirt buttons, silk stockings, pumps and silver buckles, and 
so gracefully bowed over to the care of a genteel personage 
in black silk, with a neat blonde cap, that I was in some- 
what of a puzzle, till after I was ushered into the drawing 
room, I surmised that the elegant gentleman was no other 
than the butler, and the genteel lady was the house-keeper. 
Other company was expected, and dinner delayed till their 
arrival, and our host took a walk with us about the prem- 
ises, showing us his park, hot-house, garden, and finally 
his stable, which he insisted upon our entering. And truly 
it was a fine sight. The stable was paved with small, round 
white stones, and as clean and well swept as a house floor. 



LETTER NO. XXIX. 219 

The stalls were full of noble horses. The carriage was 
magnificent, in a fine room, well finished off with a fire- 
place in it to warm it while the carriage was being cleaned. 
The ostler's room was carpeted and well furnished, and at 
his master's command, he threw open his closet doors, and 
displayed with evident pride and satisfaction, all the trim- 
mings, harness, &c, which shone like gold and silver, and 
were hung up in the most perfect order, everything in its 
place. The dinner was served in great style. The butler 
with his white gloves on, and another waiter, but a whit be- 
hind him in gentility, served us. The latter handed every- 
thing he brought into the room with a bow to the butler, 
and the butler flourished everything on to the table. English 
servants have a quiet, graceful, dumb way of waiting, that 
almost compels you to believe they are machines, and not 
living realities. After every luxury in the way of soups, 
fish, meats, puddings and pies had been discussed, the ele- 
gant waxed table, which shone like a mirror, was loaded 
with cut glass and silver, fruits and wines of various kinds, 

ale, porter, strong beer, &c. Mr. 's astonishment and 

distress at our declinature of all his choice old wines and rare 
liquors, were only equalled by our amazement at seeing 
him and his sons drink first a little Sherry, and then a little 
Madeira and a good deal of Champagne, and then a glass 
of ale and a little porter, and so on, which I must confess 
they stood bravely. After spending several hours at the 
table, we retired to the drawing room, and before we had 
time to take breath, tea was brought in. 

We were unable to see Windsor Castle, as it is under- 
going repairs ; but through the influence of a friend, we 
were permitted to pay a visit to St. James' Palace, when 
we were here in August, although it was just closed for the 
season. Here the Queen holds all her levees, as her pre- 
decessors for many years have done. The rooms are more 



220 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

commodious and better arranged for large assemblies, than 
in any other place. We were shown the Council Chamber, 
the Reception and Ante-room and Banqueting Hall. The 
carpets have been down five years. They are Wilton ; crim- 
son is the prevailing color, and crimson velvet paper covers 
the walls. The ceiling is beautifully gilded. The chande- 
liers, mirrors and tables are superb. The upholsterer was 
there, preparing the rooms to be shut up for the season. 
The top, sides and floor, as well as all the furniture were to 
be covered with brown linen, of which he said it would take 
seven thousand yards. 

The carpets were not to be taken up, only covered. The 
Queen's chair in the Council Chamber cost two thousand 
and five hundred dollars. It was a very comfortable chair 
to sit upon ! In the Reception room is a throne and cano- 
py over it, which is encircled by a gilt railing, enclosing 
perhaps twelve feet square. When individuals are present- 
ed to the Queen, she does not receive them sitting on her 
throne, but she stands outside this enclosure. The young 
Duke of Cambridge rode up while we were there. He is 
quite a handsome man. The Queen, I am told, always 
opens the ball with this favorite cousin. The late Queen 
Adelaide's apartments are on the opposite side of the Court. 

We spent an evening in Madame Tussaud's Wax Galle- 
ry, in King street. This exceeds any wax exhibition I have 
ever seen. The hall was so finely lighted by gas as to out- 
do old Sol's day-light altogether. The music was excellent, 
and the crowd gaily dressed. Throughout the hall are 
groups of wax figures, all distinguished characters, standing 
or sitting, so elegantly and neatly dressed, and so perfectly 
life-like in their attitudes and general appearance, as to 
create many amusing mistakes. None of them are inclosed 
in glass cases. A fine looking gentleman was sitting on a 
sofa, gazing at the passing crowd, while two or three ladies 



LETTER NO. XXIX. 221 

sat by him in quite a merry mode. One hand held his hat 
and cane, and the other rested carelessly upon his knee. 
After looking at him some time inquisitively, one of my 
companions said, "Is that man alive or not?" "Why," re- 
plied I, laughing, "he is alive of course; don't you see how 
he turns his head around ? " This satisfied my friend for a 
moment, and then his doubts returned ; so we concluded to 
go and sit down near his lordship, and touch him if neces- 
sary, to solve the problem, or speak to him and see if he 
was alive. I moved by him very carefully, lest I should 
tread on his toes, while he turned his head very deliberate- 
ly to look at us. After some whispering among ourselves, 
and as many sly glances as we dared bestow upon him, we 
found out he was only a wax gentleman after all, and his 
head turned every few minutes by some kind of machinery 
But the illusion was complete. Some around us, I presume, 
never discovered that he was not a bona fide man. Many of 
the figures were scattered about purposely, either standing 
by themselves, or sitting on the sofas and lounges to de- 
ceive visitors. Near the entrance of the room we found the 
Queen, Prince Albert, and four of the little sprigs of royal- 
ty. The young prince and princesses were standing by 
their parents, the baby was asleep in its cradle, looking like 
life itself , only a little more so, with its elegant embroid- 
eries, laces and coverings of surpassing beauty and richness. 
These are all said to have been perfect resemblances to the 
originals, when taken some few years since. Almost every 
man, highly distinguished for the last hundred years in 
France or England, is to be seen here, true to life, in the 
costume of his time. Two large groups were especially in- 
teresting: one was the crowning of Queen Victoria, and 
the other the Court of Queen Elizabeth. In the former, 
the Duke of Wellington, Queen Adelaide, the Duchess of 
Kent, the Duke of Devonshire, &c, were prominent figures. 



222 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Leicester, and sundry lords 
and ladies dressed in all the splendor and quaintness of the 
olden time, were a truly interesting spectacle. Here stood 
a flirting couple of ancient times, and there sat a regular 
courting couple. Here were gentlemen in powdered wigs 
and knee buckles, and there ladies in laughably short waists 
and long trains. Here stood Napoleon, talking over mat- 
ters very earnestly with some of the leading men of his 
time, and in another place were John Adams, John Ran- 
dolph, and others of our countrymen. But noblest among 
them all, and peering above all others, stood our own illus- 
trious George Washington, dressed in simple black — the 
most dignified and benevolent looking person there. While 
comparing him with other great men who stood around, in 
the pride and enthusiasm of the moment, I could scarcely 
restrain myself from shaking hands with him, in spite of 
his dignity, and telling him that, to my thinking, he was by 
far the finest looking and best man in the assembly, and I 
was as proud of him as I was of the country I belonged to, 
although the Queen of England was near enough to hear 
me. As it was, a few Americans of us (for we had found 
a number of our ship companions, and had gone together 
to the exhibition,) so loudly praised and admired our own 
countrymen, and congratulated ourselves so warmly in find- 
ing them in such an unexpected place, that we attracted as 
much attention before we finished our eulogium, as the great 
Washington himself. In an adjoining room, we were shown 
several curiosities, among which were the identical carriage 
in which Napoleon rode for years, and the writing desk he 
used to the end of his life, which I searched faithfully, hop- 
ing to find a scrap of his writing or an expression of some 
great thought. I got up into the carriage and shut the door, 
and almost imagined that Bonaparte was there too. 



LETTER NO. XXX. 223 

The great charm and peculiarity of Madame Tussaud's 
Wax Gallery, over all other exhibitions of the kind I have 
ever seen, is, not only the perfect elegance and finish, and 
life-like appearance of her figures, but the richness and 
beauty and costliness, and purity of their dress. In our 
own country, even in the museum of the matchless Barnum, 
the neglected, soiled appearance of the few wax figures there, 
leads you to turn away from them almost with disgust. I 
could not but think, as I saw the pure white dresses and 
laces, the unsoiled white gloves and shirt bosoms, the fine 
glossy broadcloth without a particle of dust upon it, the pol- 
ished boots, and the elegantly dressed heads, which looked 
as if they had just escaped from the hair dresser's hands, 
what an endless business to keep every thing in such trim ; 
every figure looked as if dressed for an evening party. 

In my next I will tell you about some of the Churches in 
London. 



LETTER NO. XXX. 

London, November, 1850. 

The two finest specimens of church architecture in Pro- 
testant Europe are said to be St. Paul's Cathedral and 
Westminster Abbey. The former covers more than two 
acres of ground, and is the largest Protestant Church in the 
world. In order to see all parts of St. Paul, you are obliged 
to pay no less then seven different fees, amounting in all to 
75 cents ; clock 2d., whispering gallery 2d., ball Is. 6d., and 



224 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

so on. By mounting six hundred and sixteen steps, you 
may reach the top of the Church, from which there is a 
magnificent view of this superb city, which is truly wonder- 
ful from its vastness, being thirty miles in circumference. 
The interior of the great cupola contains several paintings, 
illustrative of scenes in St. Paul's life ; and the baldness of 
the interior is somewhat relieved by statues and monuments. 
Among these statues are Dr. Johnson, Howard, the Philan- 
tropist, Lord Nelson &c. The pavement up to the altar is 
beautiful, composed of alternate slabs of black and white 
marble. The carvings of the stalls in the choir are beauti- 
fully executed, but there is a dingy, gloomy look about the 
chapel, which spoils every thing. We attended church here 
once, and were surprised to find a small congregation on a 
pleasant day ; probably not over five hundred. The ser- 
vices were not peculiarly interesting, but the singing sur- 
passed any church music I ever heard. Twelve little boys, 
from ten to fourteen, clothed in white surplices, performed 
certain parts exquisitely. I almost felt, as I gazed on their 
beautiful faces, and listened to their sweet voices, that I was 
listening to the harmony of angels. Three times every day 
in the year is service performed in this church. The great 
bell weighs more than eleven thousand pounds, and is ten 
feet in diameter. It is never tolled but on the death of the 
King, Queen, or some member of the royal family ; or for 
the bishop of London, or the Dean of St. Paul's. 

I am ashamed to own that I was disappointed in West- 
minster Abbey. I had heard much of this celebrated anti- 
quity, and had anticipated my visit to the graves of the illus- 
trious dead in the Poet's Corner with the greatest enthu- 
siasm. But the beautiful fabric which my fancy had erect- 
ed, toppled over before I passed the threshold. I entered 
and gazed around with little more emotion than if I had 
been a statue. I account for my disappointment in this 



LETTER NO. XXX. 225 

way : We entered the church from the Poet's corner through 
a mean and dirty entrance, instead of the great and beauti- 
ful gate on the northern side, and the effect on my mind 
was precisely, I suppose, as it would be to enter a superb 
and elegant dwelling by the back door, and go through the 
kitchen into the parlor- First impressions are of great ac- 
count in matters of taste. If good, they affect us like throw- 
ing open a window-shutter and pouring sun-light upon an 
object. I knew that here were monuments to the memory of 
Spencer, Milton, Shakspeare, Thomson, Gay, Goldsmith, 
Addison, Johnson, Handel, Garrick, Dr. Watts, Isaac New- 
ton and hosts of others, and did not consider, till I stood up- 
on the spot, that many of them were simply beautiful mon- 
uments, erected in honor of their memory, but not in the 
place where their ashes repose ; and half the sentiment that 
would have been awakened by feeling that these splendid 
monuments actually covered their dust, was dispelled by a 
knowledge that their remains, in reality, slumbered beneath 
other sods. Much of the reverence and enthusiasm I should 
have felt, had I stood at their actual graves, was changed 
into simple admiration of monumental beauty, such as I 
should have felt in any marble-yard, filled with specimens 
of elaborate and tasteful sculpture. Had I first passed 
around the Abbey and formed an accurate idea of its height 
its immensity, and marked its towers and its pinacles, and 
its antique stained windows, especially the great rose win- 
dow in front, ninety feet in circumference, and walked up 
the nave of the church, viewing at my leisure the diverse 
and picturesque and tasteful, as well as monstrous and 
antique monumental effigies, which abound within, I might 
have been as enchanted and enthusiastic, as most are who 
visit this place. In the Chapels, of which there are eleven, 
containing tombs, I must say, my expectations were more 
than realized. Here repose the kings and queens of Eng- 






226 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUEOPE. 

land ; and every variety of sepulcral design, which centuries 
have elaborated, are displayed to view. On many tombs is 
a full length marble effigy of the sleeper within. There is 
something truly touching in this representation of the shroud- 
ed dead. Upon some are the images of both parents, while 
perhaps several children, with hands clasped and eyes rais- 
ed to Heaven, are kneeling about the tomb. The mauso- 
leum of Henry III. has been splendid in the extreme, but 
is now greatly defaced and mutilated. The effigy of Hen- 
ry V., stretched on his tomb, is headless ; the head, which 
was of solid silver, having been stolen. In Edward the 
Confessor's Chapel, are kept the chairs in which the kings 
and queens of England are crowned, and in the choir of 
Westminster Abbey, this ceremony always takes place. 
Henry the Seventh's Chapel is said to be the most high- 
ly finished piece of gothic architecture in the world. It 
costs two hundred and eighty thousand pounds. His own 
tomb, erected by himself, cost seventy-five thousand dol- 
lars of our own money, and was six years in building. 
Here also is the tomb of Queen Elizabeth, and a magnifi- 
cent monument to the memory of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
and a curious effigy of Margaret Tudor, mother of Henry 
VII. The cloisters are well worth a visit. They are ten- 
antless, of course, and gloom and dampness, and sad recol- 
lections press upon you as you wander within their silent 
walls. The celebrated Doomsday Book of William the 
Conqueror, is kept in the Chapter House. This we were 
anxious to see, but the door was closed. Here is Clement 
the Seventh's Golden Bull, confirming the title of Defender 
of the Faith on Henry the Eighth, for his defence of the 
faith against Luther: also, the original wills of Kings Ri- 
chard the II., Henry IV., Henry VII., and Henry VIII. 



LETTER NO. XXX. 227 

We attended once the church, of which Rev. James Ham- 
ilton, author of " Life in Earnest," is pastor. He was not 
at home, but in his stead, we had the pleasure of hearing 
the Rev. Mr. Bonar, of Scotland, biographer of McCheyne. 
His sermon was remarkably practical and impressive, one I 
can never forget. \ 

The hymns they sang were sfi old fashioned in poetic 
style, as to carry us back a hundred years or more, and were 
quite a novelty. One ran thus : 

• 
We, with our fathers, sinned have, 

And of iniquity 
Too long we have the workers been ; 
We have done wickedly. 

The wonders great, which thou, Lord, 

Didst work in Egypt land, 
Our fathers, tho' they saw, yet thern 

They did not understand. 

Rev. Dr. Cummings we also had the pleasure of hearing. 
He is very popular among the Dissenters. We went early 
m order to obtain a seat ; the pews were, many of them, 
quite empty, but the sexton told us to stand up in the aisle 
till after singing and the first prayer, when he would give 
us a seat. Odd as it seemed, we had to obey orders. The 
people crowded in till service commenced, while the pews 
were still not half filled, but the three aisles were full of per- 
sons, waiting according to direction, till after the first pray- 
er. I was so tired of standing, and so curious to see the 
end of this novel treatment of strangers, that the hymn and 
prayer seemed unusually long, and in my anxiety to know 
what was to be done with the crowd in the aisles, they fail- 
ed of producing the good effect they might have done under 
other circumstances. 






228 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

At length the time arrived for disposing of us, when to 
my astonishment, the sexton turned down a seat in the aisle, 
and a hundred or more strangers, like ourselves, were ac- 
commodated in this fashion. The recent movements in the 
Papal Church, as affecting the interests of the Church of 
England, were the theme of discourse, upon which, Mr. 
Cummings was quite eloquent. We also attended Surrey 
Chapel, where eccentric Rowland Hill was so long stationed. 
This is a very plain old Church, and the present incum- 
bent was not at home. As I sat within the walls which had 
so long echoed to the voice of that singular man, I could not 
but recall some of his eccentricities. I wondered which 
aisle poor Mrs. Hill came up so late on Sunday morning, 
after sermon commenced, and how she must have felt when 
her husband called the attention of the congregation to her 
tardiness, and attributed the circumstance to the fact, that 
she had just received a new bonnet and other articles of 
dress on the previous evening, which she was anxious to 
display to the greatest advantage, quite to the dismay and 
consternation of the poor wife. 

On one occasion, not more than three years before his 
death, it is said, "he was preaching to one of the most 
crowded congregations that ever assembled to hear him. In 
the middle of his discourse, he observed a great commotion 
in the gallery, (he was always greatly annoyed at any noise 
in the chapel;) for a time he took no notice of it, but find- 
ing it increasing, he paused in his sermon, and looking in 
the direction in which the confusion prevailed, he exclaim- 
ed: 'What's the matter there? The devil seems to haye 
got among you.' A plain, country-looking man immediately 
started to his feet, and addressing Mr. Hill, in reply, said : 
'No sir, it arn't the devil as is a doing on it; it's a lady 
wot's fainted; and she is a very fat un, sir, as don't seem 
likely to come to again in a hurry.' 



LETTER NO. XXX. 229 

" Oh, that's it, is it," observed Mr. Hill, drawing his hand 
across his chin, "then I beg the lady's pardon — and the 
devil's too." 

By some means or other, Mr. Hill always had a full house. 
The following anecdote is told of him, and it is positively 
affirmed as true. " Passing through a small town in the 
provinces, principally occupied by journeymen mechanics 
and apprentices, he intimated to the Dissenting Minister of 
the place, his intention of preaching in his chapel in the 
course of an hour. The Minister readily assented, but said 
he would have to preach to empty pews, as there was not 
only no time to give the people notice, but they could not, 
at the hour specified, conveniently leave their employment, 
even if they were duly informed that he intended to preach. 
' Ah, we'll take the chance of that,' said Mr. Hill. He ac- 
cordingly sent the bell-man round the place, with an intima- 
tion that Mr. Rowland Hill, from London, was to preach at 
the Dissenting Meeting House, at a particular hour, and 
that before leaving the pulpit he would make a pair of shoes 
before the whole congregation. The droll intimation had 
the desired effect. Curiosity to see the shoes made in the 
pulpit overcame all considerations of commerce and profit. 
The place was crowded. At the end of the service he said, 
' Now, my friends, I proposed to make a pair of shoes be- 
fore leaving the pulpit. It now becomes my duty to redeem 
my promise.' And so saying, he bowed down, and taking 
in his hand a pair of boots, which he had brought with him 
for the purpose, he exhibited them to the congregation say- 
ing, ' You all see that this is a pair of boots.' There was 
no audible reply, but every countenance seemed to answer 
in the affirmative. ' Well, then,' resumed Rowland Hill, 
pulling a pen-knife out of his pocket, and first cutting off 
the leg of one and then of the other about two inches above 
11 



230 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

the soles, he exhibited his quondam boots to the gaze of the 
astonished congregation, exclaiming, ' There, you see, I 
have my pair of shoes already.' " 

In spite of his odd and unheard-of ways, he was eminent- 
ly successful as a preacher. His very oddities awakened 
attention, and his solemn and powerful reasonings and ap- 
peals, though made in the most familiar way, led many a 
man to turn his thoughts from time to eternity, and seek a 
preparation for another world. 



LETTER NO. XXXI. 

London, July, 1850. 
If the palaces of London and its suburbs do not, in gen- 
eral, compare favorably with those of the Continent in size 
and architectural magnificence and beauty, there is certain- 
ly one feature in this great metropolis, which calls forth the 
wonder and admiration of all travelers. I mean her parks 
and squares. Never have I seen such ample provision made 
for the health and pleasure of any people. As I wandered 
about through the shady avenues and retired walks of Hyde 
Park, situated in the very heart of London, yet sheltered 
from its dust and removed from its din, and literally thread- 
ed its paths for miles, or sat down when weary, on seats 
scattered about, I fell into a musing mood. I watched the 
bright smiling faces of childhood as they glided by, and 
heard the wild laugh of many happy beings, whose hearts 
seemed tuned to melody by the freshness and beauty of the 



LETTER NO. XXXI. 231 

landscape, or the carol of the birds that sang so sweetly 
about us, and saw the gleam of pleasure that lighted up 
the pale countenances of the invalids, who were rolling by 
in their chairs, and breathing the pure air of heaven, and 
even the elastic step of the poorer classes, who seemed ani- 
mated with unwonted gladness, as they wandered about free 
as the air they breathed, in this Eden of a place, and I felt, 
as I never did before, the propriety, the necessity, and the 
humanity of providing such Elysiums in our crowded cities. 
Here the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, the list- 
less and lazy, and weary and forlorn and heart-stricken, espe- 
cially babies and children, can flee from the noise and tur- 
moil, and dust and danger of the thoroughfares, and from 
the closeness of their suffocating rooms, and refresh their 
weary souls and their gasping bodies with a look at the 
beautiful and a breath of heaven's pure air. Why not pro- 
vide in cities for the health and comfort, and recreation, and 
I may add morality, of the masses, as sacredly and bounti- 
fully as for intellectual improvement, and to increase com- 
mercial facilities, and encourage the industrial arts ! Why 
not have a country in the city, where the rich can take an 
hour's pleasant drive, without riding miles on pavement 
through the mean, dirty suburbs of the town, to reach the 
fresh green fields and groves — where the man of business 
shutting up his store and leaving his cares behind, can, in a 
few minute's walk, find himself in Paradise, (as a park like 
Hyde Park, or Regent's, or St. James', really must seem to 
a weary and care-worn mortal;) where children that pine 
for fresh air and flowers, and space to run and give strength 
to their little limbs, can do so, unharmed and unlimited, and 
every body can go to obtain a fair look occasionally m the 
heavens and the green earth, such as they cannot have in 
town: where boys can go to "fly their kites" and "have fun" 
without scaring the horses, and getting into the calaboose 



232 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

in consequence, and where the poor who are destitute of so 
many comforts, can at least find one luxury, God intended 
all should enjoy, good fresh air ! 

I thought of our own beautiful city, St. Louis, stretching 
far and wide its limits to fulfil its noble destiny, almost en- 
tirely unprovided for, too sadly forgotten and neglected in 
this respect, while it is marching on northward and south- 
ward, and westward, and the time to secure the advantages 
of delightful promenades, is winging itself away forever. I 
felt more than words can express, the importance and great 
utility, and gain of such healthful resorts in our city, and I 
wished most fervently, that the Lord or somebody else, would 
put it into the hearts of some of our millionaires, Messrs. 
A — B — C — D — &c, to give or to sell on the most fav- 
orable terms, tracts of land now for these purposes. For 
more than two hundred years has Hyde Park been the fash- 
ionable resort of London. If you wish to see all the world, 
go there in the afternoon ; if you wish to get out of the world 
and be alone with nature and nature's God, undisturbed by 
aught, save the melody of the birds, the sighing of the breeze 
and the rippling of the waters at your feet, go early in the 
morning. At all hours of the day, from six till nine at night 
it is open for the use of the people. The Queen also pro- 
vides a band of music to play every Saturday afternoon, when 
thousands crowd around, standing or sitting, to enjoy the 
feast, and doubtless many aching hearts and rurrled spirits 
go home soothed and comforted, or softened and subdued 
into harmony with the world around them. There are five 
entrances to Hyde Park. We entered by Hyde Park Cor- 
ner, the great gate which adjoins Apsley House, the resi- 
dence of the Duke of Wellington. Opposite the arch of 
entrance, the "Ladies ol; England" have raised a colossal sta- 
tue of Achilles, by Wesmacott, in honor of the Duke and his 
associates in the great continental war. It is cast from ar- 



LETTER NO. XXXI. 233 

tillery taken in various battles, and stands on a large granite 
base. A broad foot-path leads from Hyde Park to Kens- 
ington Gardens, which are three miles in circumference, 
and are thought to be the most beautiful promenade in Eu- 
rope. 

Regent's Park contains between three and four hundred 
acres, and is beautifully laid out in gardens, lawns, walks, 
ponds, &c. Every kind of aquatic bird, almost, is sailing 
about in the water, to the great delight and amusement of 
the children, who watch them for hours, throwing in occa- 
sionally a crumb of bread or cake for their benefit. In this 
park are the Zoological gardens, where you can spend a 
day in the most delightful manner imaginable. Nothing 
can be more entertaining and instructive to children, than a 
ramble in this beautiful place. Every variety of quadruped, 
bird and fish, is here to be found, living in style in sepa- 
rate houses, according to his nature and habits. Many of 
the animals have romantic little cottages, embosomed in 
trees and surrounded by a white paling ; and it was quite 
amusing to see a lama or a giraffe, standing quietly in his 
door and looking out upon the world around, seeming to 
say as he chewed his cud, "I am Lord of all I survey." We 
spent the morning in making calls. We called on several 
noted families — the Bruin family, from the Polar regions 
(white) — the Porcupines — Elephants — Reptiles — Mon- 
keys and their family connexions, the Baboons and the 
Ourang Outangs, who really have the power to make them- 
selves very entertaining, if not agreeable. The Lions, Ti- 
gers, Leopards, Panthers, &c, had distinct stone dwellings, 
surrounded completely with iron work, allowing them •some 
space to walk about, but perfectly secure. Printed notices 
were posted in various places, that the tortoises would dine 
at twelve o'clock, and the hippopotamus would be fed at 
one. So we wandered about hither and thither, through 



234 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

beautiful lanes and shady walks and among stone and brick 
bouses, wonderfully amused at finding such an enchanting 
little village of wild cats, elephants, snakes and lambs, liv- 
ing in perfect harmony and elegant style, and actually, by 
the neatness and beauty, and order of their settlement, put- 
ting man to blush for many of his. 

Quite a crowd of visitors assembled to see the tortoises 
eat their dinner. One old fellow of enormous size and about 
a hundred years old, they said, crawled along to a fine 
large cabbage, which disappeared in a very short time. 
There was a general rush to the mansion of the hippopota- 
mus, at one o'clock. The history of his brute-ship is quite 
interesting. "He is the only living animal of his species, 
that has been brought to England in modern times, if ever. 
Many attempts have been made to bring them alive, but 
have failed. This one is a present from the Viceroy of 
Egypt, to the Zoological Society of London. It was found 
in the Island of Obaysh, one thousand and eight hundred 
miles from Cairo. The value of the animal is enhanced by 
the fact, that an offer of twenty-five thousand dollars from 
an American agent at Alexandria, could not induce any 
speculator to obtain one from the White Nile and deliver it 
at that place." An Arab takes care of and sleeps near this 
one. The animal is a very ugly looking creature of India 
ink color, something like a hog, but his legs are so short, 
you can scarcely see that he has any as he waddles about. 
He is only a year old. The deer, antelopes, gazelles and 
other harmless, but frisky animals, have large enclosures, 
encircled by pickets so high and sharp as to forbid escape, 
and houses suitable for shelter in rain and cold. 

The reptiles live in a very pretty stone cottage, delightful- 
ly situated and surrounded with shrubbery, &c. So tasteful 
is their residence, that I fancied I should like to live in it 
myself ; but as soon as I entered, I changed my mind. A 



LETTER NO. XXXI. 235 

sight of thousands of snakes, squirming and crawling, and 
eating and snapping and staring at you, is certainly calcu- 
lated to make you feel forcibly the antipathy that exists be- 
tween the serpent and mankind, in striking fulfilment of 
the curse pronounced. On each side of the halls are com- 
partments of iron or wood-work, with glass fronts, reach- 
ing from the floor of their divisions, which is three feet, 
perhaps, from the floor of the building to the ceiling above 
Here is a nest of rattlesnakes, performing various gyrations 
for their own amusement as well as ours ; and there is a 
huge, parti-colored fellow, taking a nap on a nice bed of 
moss, prepared for his accommodation. In another place is 
a family of lizards, entertaining themselves in snaky style. 
Here is a monstrous black snake, trying experiments on the 
trunk of a tree in his apartment, and showing off his capa- 
bilities, as he crawls and twines about its branches, while 
the younger members of the family amuse themselves at the 
foot of the tree. 

But the greatest of all curiosities in the tribe is the boa 
constrictor, a foot or more in circumference, wound around 
a tree with his spiteful eyes glaring frightfully about. In 
other places, you see every variety almost of the reptile spe- 
cies, of all sizes and colors, some panting with their mouths 
wide open, and others darting out their venomous tongues 
with a rapidity truly astonishing. Curious as was the ex- 
hibition here, I could not but rejoice when I was safe out 
of the walls, fearing that by some accident or other, those 
awful creatures should get loose and make climbing poles 
of us. 

I cannot conceive of any amusement so entertaining, 
healthful and instructive for parents and children, as a visit, 
for a day, occasionally, to this wonderful garden. The 
grounds of themselves are as beautifully and fancifully laid 
out as you can imagine, and shady knolls and winding-paths, 



236 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

losing themselves in deep thickets, and animals from all 
zones and of all species, and of every habit, and ponds or 
fish, and beds of flowers, and pretty cottages, nestled amid 
trees and shrubs, afford a variety of scenery and mental re- 
creation, which is quite enchanting. And then, there is an 
excellent Cafe provided for the rest and refreshment of 
weary pilgrims, where coffee and tea, and cakes and fruits, 
and sw T eets of ail kinds that can be named, are placed be- 
fore you with irresistible charms, especially if you are very 
hungry. 

Such a provision for the enjoyment and recreation of the 
people is an honor to its founder, Sir Humphrey Davy, and 
a blessing to the British nation. If I had been a believer 
in sl fairy land, I should certainly have thought, as I wand- 
ered for miles about the Zoological Garden, that I had at 
length found the enchanted place. St. James, Green and 
Victoria Parks have also their charms, and I am told that 
there are more than seventy squares in London, some of 
which, though quite small, are very pretty. But I am spin- 
ning out such a yarn about the Parks, that I shall have no 
room to speak of the British Museum, which, I think, is cer- 
tainly one of London's greatest w r onders. The Museum is 
free on certain days, from ten to four ; but seven hours do 
not afford scarce a glimpse at the world of curiosities col- 
lected here. 

There are five Galleries of Natural History, containing 
rare and beautiful specimens of almost every animal w<e 
have ever read or heard of. The collection of birds is im- 
mense and of great value, and the variety of bird's eggs is 
a great curiosity, from the size of a pea to a baby's head, 
and of all colors and shades. The shells, too, are number- 
less and beautiful. 

In the gallery of portraits, besides kings and queens, and 
warriors of great renown, you may see Sir Isaac Newton, 



LETTER NO. XXXI. 237 

Archbishop Cranmer, Voltaire, Martin Luther, Alexander 
Pope, Richard Baxter, and so on. There is also one Mary 
Davis, aged seventy-four, out of whose head grew two 
horns, one of which is represented in the portrait. In an- 
other room, amid hosts of other things, are wasps' and horn- 
nets' nests of various kinds. A wasp's nest, from India, 
was a marvelous sight ; it was as large as a water-pail. And 
I saw a few spiders I shall never forget. 

The rooms filled with minerals, fossils and corals, would 
have detained me many hours, had I had more leisure. 
They are elegant specimens. In one room is a fossil human 
skeleton. 

Thirteen immense rooms are filled with antiquities. We 
saw the specimens sent from Nineveh by Layard to Lon- 
don, so beautifully described in his works of Nineveh. The 
winged bull had not arrived, but is soon expected. In one 
room are eleven bas-reliefs, formerly parts of the famous 
mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of 
the world, built three hundred and fifty-seven years before 
Christ. In the Elgin saloon, nearly all the articles were 
brought from Athens by Lord Elgin, and bought by Parlia- 
ment for $175,000 

In the Egyptian rooms are mummies enough to fill a 
common grave yard, to say nothing of embalmed snakes, 
dogs, bulls, &c, innumerable ; and in the Bronze and Etrus- 
can rooms are statuary and vases of every description, some 
of them in a great state of perfection, and very tasteful pro- 
ductions of ancient art. 

The Library is immense and contains many rare literary 
antiquities, but unfortunately we did not gain admittance, 
not having made application to the proper person for a ticket. 

We visited the Vernon Gallery, a collection of paintings 
and sculpture by British artists, and the National Gallery 
11* 



238 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

containing many of the productions of Rubens, Rembrandt, 
Nicholas Poussin, Titian, Correggio, Raphael, Paul Vero- 
nese, Annibale Caracci, Tintoretto, Guercino, Gaspar Pous- 
sin, Vandyck, Domenichino, Guido Reni, Copley, Reynolds, 
Hogarth and many others of world-wide fame. We had 
a feast. 



LETTER NO. XXXII. 

London, July, 1850. 

The manufacturing cities of England are a great curiosi- 
ty to an American, who has seen only a few factories in a 
few manufacturing villages in his own country. I opened 
my eyes wide with amazement, and lifted up both hands, 
as we whizzed along the railway and caught our first glimpse 
of Manchester, which seemed like a city of chimneys. Oh, 
what a place for smook, and bustle, and work ! There are 
more than one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, and 
almost all are busy in mills, or work shops, or foundries, or 
warehouses, that for immensity and variety perfectly be- 
wilder and astound you. We visited, among others, the 
largest Calico Print Works, Bradshow's Printing and En- 
graving establishment, and the Irwell Silk Mill. In the last 
the work is confined to narrow ribbons and trimmings. One 
hundred and fifty hands are in the spinning room, and four 
thousand and two hundred shuttles are running. By law, 
no children under eleven years of age, are allowed to work 
in the factory. They work ten hours. The rooms were 



LETTER NO. XXXII. 239 

clean and well ventilated, and the girls were fair and looked 
healthy and happy. Their wages vary from three to ten 
shillings per week, (from seventy-five cents to two dollars 
and a half. ) They are allowed to sing hymns and popular 
songs. They sang two songs for us, greatly to our delight. 
I assure you, it was a beautiful sight to see so many young, 
neat and busy girls together, and to hear them sing so sweet- 
ly while their hands were employed. The silk, in its na- 
tural state, is all either white or yellow; only one pound in 
ninety comes white. The white silk is brought from China, 
and the yellow from the East Indies. It is not known how 
to account for the difference in color of the cocoons. The 
Superintendent informed us, that one silk worm thread, is 
equal in strength to one hundred spider's threads, and that 
a thread of sewing-silk, as prepared for use, contains about 
ten silk worm threads. 

At Derby, we visited the Porcelain Works, and saw ma- 
ny articles of the famous Derbyshire china made — such as 
pitchers, cups and saucers, &c. The processes of shaping, 
painting, baking, &c, are very curious. All kinds of marble, 
spars and petrifactions, are to be found here. The Derby 
Grammar School, is said to be one of the most ancient foun- 
dations in the kingdom. We strolled about the Jlrboreium, 
with which I was delighted. This is an enclosure contain* 
ing eleven acres of land, nobly donated by Joseph Strutt, 
Esq., to the city of Derby, for a promenade and retreat, 
especially for the working classes. He not only gave the 
land, but employed J. C. Loudon, a man of great taste and 
judgement, to lay it out and fit it up at his expense. The 
cost of buildings and improvements is estimated at fifty 
thousand dollars. We saw many children here frolicking 
about, while their mothers or nurses were knitting or sew- 
jng under the shade of the trees. 



240 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

We paid a visit to Matlock-Bath, a beautifully wild and 
romantic place, and explored quite thoroughly the mines in 
the neighborhood. No sooner had I expressed a desire to 
visit the mines, than five donkeys, all saddled and bridled, 
were driven up to the door, for my ladyship to ride on ; but 
I preferred climbing the crags to riding on such mean look- 
ing animals. The mines were formerly quite celebrated, 
but are now mostly abandoned ; they contain fine stalactites 
and spars. The museums in the town are full of beautiful 
specimens of spars and fossils, wrought into vases and va- 
rious ornamental designs, which can be purchased. The petri- 
fying wells are very curious. Here a great variety of things 
may be seen in process of petrifaction, Baskets, eggs, &c, 
are among the deposits, upon which the water is slowly, but 
constantly dripping, and in the course of a year they are 
completely petrified. The scenery about Matlock is wild 
and enchanting. 

Birmingham, renowned for its commerce and manufac- 
tures, is nearly in the centre of England. It is quite a 
mean smoky looking city, but contains nearly two hundred 
thousand inhabitants. We were recommended to a hotel 
called the " Hen and Chickens" but I remonstrated against 
stopping at a tavern with such a name, till assured it was a 
very excellent place. The English certainly have an odd taste 
in naming their inns. The names of themselves, I should 
suppose, would scare people away, instead of attracting trav- 
elers. One, I remember, is called "The Cat and the Cu- 
cumber." They have also some queer customs, especially 
that of feeing servants. You are sometimes assailed by 
a half dozen servants asking for a fee. In one hotel, where 
we had requested servants' fees to be included in our bill, 
and had actually been charged for service two dollars for 
two days, we were followed to the carriage by a man, say- 
ing "Please remember boots," It seemed the two dollars 



LETTER NO. XXXH. 241 

had not covered this man's claim. We were almost afraid 
to have the dog that lay upon the steps look kindly upon us, 
lest it should be an extra charge. 

The only wages servants receive in most hotels, is what 
they receive from travelers. While waiting for supper, 
which we had ordered at a country inn, a servant girl ap- 
peared in the parlor and said " Madam, will you please 
walk into the other room and make the tea ? " I followed 
her in a state of wonder at such a request in a hotel, when 
she pointed out the tea caddies, black and green, wishing 
me to measure out and put in to the tea-pot what I pleased. 
I did so, and returned to the parlor, until we were called to 
tea. I was quite amused one day at the evident dilemma 
a gentlemen traveler was in, who stopped where we were. 
He had ordered supper, and a table in the parlor was set 
for him. The servant requested him to come and make his 
tea. Whether he should empty the tea caddy altogether or 
in part, seemed a question that caused some deliberation. 
He finally settled the matter, but from the quantity he mea- 
sured out, I doubt whether he shut his eyes in sleep for a 
week afterward. 

We hoped to have seen the Rev. John Angell James, 
who preaches here, but were disappointed ; he was not in 
town. 

The Papier Mache establishment of Jennens & Bettredge 
is well worth a visit. A person unacquainted with this 
process, and ushered into the splendid show rooms of this 
company, and told that the beautiful specimens of art before 
him were made of brown paper, would naturally doubt the 
truth or possibility of the fact. The tables are made of fifty 
or more sheets of coarse wrapping paper, pasted together 
and pressed till dry. Then there are rooms for painting, 
varnishing, polishing and finishing, till the most perfect 
gems of beauty, that can be conceived of, are spread before 



v 



242 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

your eyes. Some of their specimens, for delicacy and beau- 
ty, I have never seen surpassed. We visited here one of 
the largest cut glass factories and a steel pen factory. A 
steel pen undergoes thirty-two processes before it is ready 
for use. 

From Birmingham we went to Stratford on Avon. Pas- 
sed the Park where Shakspeare stole the deer, and saw the 
gate on which he posted the verses, so obnoxious to Sir Lu- 
cy, and which resulted finally in his leaving Stratford in 
somewhat of a hurry, and seeking his fortune in London. 
Little did he think as he scribbled away, that his destiny 
hung on these lines. You remember them: 

" A Parliament member, a Justice of Peace 
At home a poor scarecrow, in London an asse ; 
If Lucy is Lowsie, as some volke miscall it, 
Synge Lowsie Lucy whatever befall it, &c. " 

It was nearly dark when we reached Stratford. We stop- 
ped at the " Red Horse" inn, the best in the little village, 
and immediately paid a visit to Shakspeare's birth place. 
Strange as the old house looks in these times, I dare say 
when Shakspeare's father purchased it, two hundred years 
ago, for forty pounds, "with its two gardens and two or- 
chards with their appurtenances," it was quite a respectable 
house, with its dormer windows and gable roof. We could 
not but laugh at the great fireplaces, especially in the kit- 
chen, with its stone seats in the corner, where Shakspeare 
in his boyhood sat, doubtless, many days, looking up the 
chimney at the blue sky above, and out upon his parents and 
then into the fire. The floor is composed of flag stones, 
broken into all shapes ; the roof above showed the huge 
bare timbers on which the upper story rests. W"e went up 
stairs into the room where he was born, and looked out of 
the windows he looked out of, and sat down in the chair he 



LETTER NO. XXXII. 243 

sat in; {perhaps, for I have no great faith in relics.) At 
any rate, I felt I stood a better chance of imbibing the in- 
spiration of the old bard, when I crept into the chimney 
corner and sat on the stone block, for I was sure he had sat 
there. The chamber is a very pleasant, cheerful room, just 
such a bright, sunny place as would stir up any body's 
thoughts and glad feelings, and we sat down in every cor- 
ner and in every chair, and puzzled our brains over the 
walls, which are so completely crossed and recrossed by 
writing, that scarcely an inch of the original wall appears. 
Byron's and Walter Scott's names are written in several 
places at different dates, and in fact, the autographs on the 
walls of hundreds of great man I had heard or read of, were 
as great curiosities to my eyes almost as the house itself. 
Then we were called upon to put our names in the great 
book, as big as a family bible, which has been used since 
1815, where every body that visits the place records the fact, 
now that the walls and window frames of the house are cov- 
ered. We found many recent insertions of the names of 
our own countrymen, among whom were added a few days 
before, those of Abbott Lawrence, our Ambassador to Eng- 
land, and several of our ship-companions, who had already 
paid their respects to Shakspeare's memory. From the 
house we went to Shakspeare's grave. It is in the chancel 
of the village church. In a niche on one side is a half 
length effigy of Shakspeare, said to be the best and only 
portrait of him, now to be relied upon. The graves of the 
Shakspeare family lie in a row in front of the altar. The 
marble slabs that cover them are concealed by a matting, 
which we removed and read the inscriptions. Shakspeare's 
runs thus: 

"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare 
To digg the dyst encloased heare ; 
Blest be the man, that spares the stones ; 
And curst be he that moves my bones. " 



244 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUKOPE. 

Tradition says, that " his wife and daughter did earnestly 
desire to be laid in the same grave with him, " but that "not 
one, for fear of the curse above said, dare touch his grave 
stone." The inscription on the stone of Shakspeare's 
daughter, runs thus : 

"Witty above her sexe, but that's not all, 
Wise to salvation was good Mistres Hall. 
Something of Shakspeare was in that ; but this 
Wholly of him with whom she is now in bliss. 

Then, passenger, ha'snt ne're a teare 
To weep with her, that wept with all ? 
That wept, yet set herself to chere 
Them up with comfort's cordiall. 
Her love shall live, her mercy spread 
When thou ha'st ne're a teare to shed." 

Not far from the church is the Grammar school-house, 
where Shakspeare acquired his 'small Latin and less Greek.' 
From Stratford we went to Leamington , the most beautiful 
spa in the kingdom. We went to the pump-room and baths, 
and drank the water, which was enough to make a well man 
sick. Invalid ladies we saw drawn about the spacious streets 
in small carriages, by handsomely dressed men, a curious 
sight. We took the railroad from Leamington to Kenil- 
worth, and from there went in an omnibus two miles to 
Kenilvvorth Castle. What hosts of recollections crowded 
upon us, as we strolled about among these stately ruins, and 
looked up to its crumbling battlements, mantled with ivy, 
and actually grey with age. Little is left but its massive 
walls — a perfect shell — but enough to give you an idea of 
the magnificence of the feudal ages, and to impress the 
mind deeply with a sense of the instability of all earthly 
things and the vanity of all human splendor. How did all 
the honor and fame and wealth and pageantry of earth float 
away into nothingness before my mental vision, as I stood 
gazing about, contrasting the silence and desolation of this 



LETTER NO. XXXII. 245 

beautiful spot now with the scenes of courtly festivity, which 
in the Earl of Leicester's time, took place within its walls, 
when the proud and haughty Elizabeth was a guest here in 
her last visit of seventeen days ! I know not how long I 
had been absorbed in melancholy musings, when a merry 
laugh fell on my ear and I turned around ; who should I see 

but Mrs. , with a smiling face and almost flying feet 

hastening up the court-yard to greet me. It was a joyous 
meeting with an old American friend. She had seen us, 
as we passed in the omnibus through the town of Kenil- 
worth, and had come on the wings of the wind to meet us. 
So we traversed the court-yard and tilt-yard and parks to- 
gether. We went up into the room, which it is said Eli- 
zabeth occupied in her last visit, and looked out upon the 
moat, now grown over, upon the waving fields and forests 
beyond, and stepped into the banqueting Hall, or rather, 
stood on its threshold, and gazed up the turret where Amy 
Robsart was concealed. We asked questions, which nobo- 
dy answered, and started inquiries, which echo, in mockery 
repeated. Every one of all the gay crowds, that year after 
year, has glided in and out of this splendid castle, making 
its walls ring with merriment, has pased beyond the bounds 
of time, and is to the world now, as if he had never been! 



246 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



LETTER NO. XXXIII. 

Chatsworth Inn, Aug. 5, 1850. 

We spent one day in Sheffield, so famous for the manu- 
facture of cutlery. It is pleasantly nestled at the foot of a 
range of hills, and contains nearly seventy thousand inhabi- 
tants. We visited the celebrated establishment of Rogers 
& Sons, also an electro plate factory ; and saw casters, cake 
baskets, spoons, and every variety of articles, undergoing 
the process of plating. Spoons, forks, &c, of the new style 
— electro -plating on German silver — are used here every 
where in hotels and private houses. They look as well, and 
do not cost half so much as silver, and wear for years with- 
out looking defaced. 

From Sheffield, we took a private carriage with Mr. S — , 
of St. Louis, and rode sixteen miles to Chatsworth, the mag- 
nificent mansion of the Duke of Devonshire. The day was 
delightful, the air balmy, and though in August, everything 
in England is as fresh and green as with us in June. The 
country in this region is beautiful. Part of our ride was 
over a moor, covered with heath in full bloom — a small 
pink flower. At our right, lay the scenery inmortalized by 
Scott in Ivanhoe and in Peveril of the Peak. It was Satur- 
day, and we settled ourselves for a few days at Chatsworth 
Inn, a quiet, delightful place, a few rods from the great en- 
trance to the Duke's park. After an early tea, we took a 
ramble through the grounds, which are open to the public 
till quite dark. Oh, what walks, what lawns, what groves ! 
What herds of deer, of every variety of shade, springing 



LETTER NO. XXXIII. 247 

from the bushes and dashing away at full speed ! In the 
shade of the beach and chestnut, stood a group of cows of 
rare size and beauty. Away in the distance, were brows- 
ing a flock of sheep; before us was a sheet of water filled 
with water fowls, sailing about to their heart's content. 
Yonder was hedged in a perfect forest of several acres, 
filled with game of all kinds, wild with tangled brush and 
old, lofty trees, that seemed to have weathered ages, with 
its game keeper and lodge, which no one dares to enter, but 
over whose hedge we ventured to peep. And then such 
beautiful fountains, rising like mist or wreath of snow above 
the luxuriant foliage around ! Never did I see so beautiful 
a picture of quiet, rural beauty as Chatsworth. Everything 
is just right. Nothing can be added, and nothing altered; 
not a tree too many, nor one too few, and all where they 
ought to be. The roads wind about, till lost in the distance, 
white as the whitest gravel can make them, creeping through 
the green grass. They are swept every day, and not a dead 
limb or an unsighly object meets your whole vision. Every 
tree even is perfect in its shape and of its kind ; the grass is 
like velvet, cropped close by the two thousand deer and one 
thousand cows that roam over it. And the sweet little cot- 
tages that peep out upon you, each unlike and more beauti- 
ful than its neighbor, covered with honeysuckle or ivy, or 
wreathed with roses, looked as if they might be the abode 
of industry, refinement, love and peace. So entranced was 
I with the vision of this landscape of beauty, which stretched 
away as far as the eye could reach, (for the circumference 
of the Duke's park is fifteen miles) that, for the moment, I 
yielded to the belief, that I had at last found a place into 
which sin and sorrow had never stalked. But who lives in 
all these beautiful cottages, scattered about, thought I ; sure- 
ly not the poor, they are too elegant and tasteful, and sure- 



248 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

ly not the rich, for what business have they in the Duke's 
Park. We stopped a man to inquire, and were told the 
cottages were all owned and built by the Duke, and the oc- 
cupants were all his tenants — and "his Grace," the man 
said, "was a real nobleman — so kind to his people and so 
benevolent to the poor." In one cottage, picturesque and 
beautiful, lives the old and infirm gamekeeper, too old for 
service, to whom the Duke has given the use of the cottage 
and settled on him a certain number of pounds per annum 
for life. Every voice here speaks in the Duke's praise. 
He spends but about six weeks during the year at Chats- 
worth, and fortunately he is here now. This is but one of 
several of his vast domains. 

But I have said nothing as yet of Chatsworth House. It 
is a square pile, massive, and richly ornamented \vith fluted 
columns and pilasters ; it has been built at different periods, 
yet all in good taste, and wears quite a modern air. The 
last addition is in Grecian style. The masonry is of a rich 
buff color — a soft sandstone — and it is all surrounded with 
an open balustrade, and adorned with urns, vases and stat- 
ues. With the rich dark green hills behind, and the ter- 
races, extending twelve hundred feet in front, with its gar- 
dens and fountains, and a lawn, stretching away before all, 
through which winds a small river like a stream of silver, 
and a beautiful cascade on the right, with a jet d'eau, said 
to be the most magnificent in Europe, attaining the height 
of two hundred and sixty-seven feet, and the hunting tower 
perched on a peak at the left, embowered in trees, from 
which a red flag always floats when the Duke is here, Chats- 
worth, to my eyes, presents the most imposing and magnifi- 
cent spectacle of taste, art and primeval beauty combined, 
that I have ever beheld. 

Chatsworth is open to visitors from eleven in the morn- 
ing till five, p. m. In our first ramble, we were too late to 



LETTEK NO. XXXIII. 249 

gain admittance that day, so we wandered on, over an ele- 
gant bridge with three arches, thrown across the lovely 
stream that meanders through the park, to a small tower, 
shaded with venerable trees and built on an eminence, sur- 
rounded by a moat. We ascended a flight of steps to the 
Bower of Mary, Queen of Scots, so called from the fact, 
that the unhappy and beautiful princess used to spend many 
of the hours of her confinement here, when, for thirteen 
years, Chatsworth was her prison. Espying a noble look- 
ing structure to the left of Chatsworth House, apparently a 
church, with its great tower and huge clock, we concluded 
to enter it, as it seemed open, and take a nearer view of 
the place where we should probably attend worship the next 
day, and perhaps see the Duke of Devonshire himself, the 
Lady Carlisle, his sister, and the Earl of Burlington, the 
Duke's heir apparent, and family, who are all here now. 
On arriving at the entrance and receiving permission of a 
man standing there, to enter, we walked in, and to our great 
astonishment as well as amusement, found ourselves in the 
Duke's stable, with a hundred horses perhaps, instead of the 
Duke's chapel. On our return to the Inn we met the Duke 
and Lady Carlisle, who were just returning from a drive in 
the park. The Coachman, postillion and footman, looked 
like black and yellow butterflies, in their gay striped livery ; 
the Duke himself and his sister, were plainly and simply 
dressed. The Duke is sixty-two years of age. In his 
younger days he was Lord Chamberlain to George the 
Fourth, and was then, I imagine from portraits taken of 
him at that time, quite a handsome man. 

The next day we attended the old church, which we found 
at length, embowered in trees, so trimmed as to form a row 
of arches around the church yard. It was a communion 
season, and the Duke partook of the sacrament. There were, 
perhaps, seventy people at church. 



250 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 



* 



The next morning we rose early, and in order to heighten 
the modern beauty of Chatsworth, by a contrast with the an- 
tique, we drove, before breakfast, five miles to Haddon Hall 
in company with a gentleman from Natchez and our friend 
from St Louis. It was a beautiful drive, through a rich 
country, on the east side of the river Nye. Haddon Hall 
is not a ruin, but has been deserted these fifty years, on ac- 
count of its rudeness and antiquity. It is kept in perfect 
order, and a family live near who keep the keys, and for a 
fee show it to strangers. I had not a correct idea, previous 
to my visit here, of the mode of living two or three hundred 
years ago. Their style was even more rude than I had 
supposed. The banqueting hall is no better than a rough 
farmer's kitchen, and the dining table, from which royalty 
itself was served, is an old rough oak table, no better than a 
butcher's meat bench. A gallery runs across one end of the 
hall, to which, we were told, the ladies retired after dinner, 
where they were privileged to look down and witness the 
antics, and enjoy the merriment of their uproarious lords 
when full of wine. 

The large pewter platters on which the meat was served, 
are nearly three feet in diameter, and at the cooking uten- 
sils and queer old fashioned boots, and curious articles, 
worn by the old nobility of England, we, rude scions from 
the American wilderness, laughed till we cried. The dan- 
cing hall is the only good and really comfortable room in 
the place. The window panes are about six inches by four. 
The workmanship of the doors is so rude as to make any 
body laugh. The room Queen Elizabeth occupied, when a 
visiter here, contains her bed, just as she used it. The 
counterpane is of white satin, flowered over with gold and 
silver tinsel and colors, wrought into marvelous looking ani- 
mals, and was once a beauty, no doubt, but somewhat the 
worse for wear. George the Fourth was the last person 



LETTER NO. XXXIII. 251 

who slept in this bed. The bedstead is six feet long and 
sixteen feet high ! The canopy was the work of the Ver- 
non family, who once owned this seat. Several of the 
rooms are covered with tapestry, wrought by the Vernons, 
who must certainly have been quite industrious. We were 
shown the door by which Miss Dorothy Vernon eloped with 
Sir John Manners, and by this bad manners the place pas- 
sed into the hands of the Rutland family. The bust of the 
old Lady Manners, taken at ninety-three years of age, 
stands in the dancing saloon. The last male heir of the 
Vernon family, Sir John Vernon, was called the King of 
the Peak, on account of his hospitality and magnificent 
mode Of living. So much for the times ! 

Next to the porter's lodge was the chaplain's room. I 
pitied the poor fellow who enjoyed, or rather endured, this 
honor. He had not as comfortable a room in his stone cell, 
as many of our State's prisoners. No part of this building 
is of latter date than the sixteenth century. 

After breakfast we paid another visit to the Park. We 
went first to the "Kitchen Gardens;" they cover twelve acres 
and are exceedingly beautiful. I must say, that the cele- 
brated Mr. J. Paxton is the presiding genius of Chatsworth, 
and that to his exquisite taste and ability, Chatsworth owes 
its peculiar charms. And moreover, I ought to add, that it 
is said the income of the Duke of Devonshire, is one thou- 
sand pounds per day, or five thousand dollars, and that Mr. 
Paxton has unlimited power to carry out every thought and 
plan. So great is the celebrity of these gardens, grounds 
and conservatory, and the fame of Mr. Paxton, that even 
foreigners come here to receive instructions in horticulture. 
Every quarter of the globe has been ransacked by parties, 
sent out by his Grace, the Duke, to collect plants and ob- 
tain varieties. We waited at the garden gate some time 
before we gained admittance. To every eight persons was 



252 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE. 

allowed one guide. I expected to be ushered into a magni- 
ficent cabbage plat, and to see turnips as big as my head, 
and cucumbers half a yard long; but did not really antici- 
pate much pleasure from my visit to the Kitchen gardens, 
as they are called, so that when I had actually entered, and 
found myself surrounded by the most rare and elegant flow- 
ers, and fruits of the choicest and most exquisite kinds, I 
could not refrain from expressions of admiration and de- 
light. The show-house, for flowering plants, is filled with 
splendid specimens. One house contains an African lily, 
whose leaves are five feet in diameter, and about fifteen 
feet in circumference ; the blossom is one foot in diameter, 
when fully open. So hot is the temperature necessary for 
this exotic, that I felt as if I was half cooked, when I em- 
erged into the open air. Another plant, called the sacred 
Brahman plant, from the East Indies, is a wonderful speci- 
men. It is valued at two thousand guineas. One green 
house is devoted to New Holland plants, and beautiful 
heaths. One house is devoted to one tree, the " Amherstia 
Nobilis," said to be the most beautiful tree in the world, and 
the only specimen in European gardens. Then comes the 
geranium house, with its infinite variety, and the orchida- 
ceous house, containing the greatest private collection of 
air-plants in the country. Then we went into the cherry 
house, the peach house and the strawberry house, and se- 
veral pineries and graperies. The peach house contains 
the finest Royal George peach tree in the kingdom. It is 
trained to the walls of the green house, and extends from 
tip of branch to branch, seventy-two feet. Seventy dozen 
peaches were raised on this one tree one year. Lace net- 
ting is stretched underneath, a foot or two from the ground, 
to receive the ripe fruit as it falls. Pine apples are grow- 
ing in all stages. Melon vines are trained up to the wall 
in a perpendicular position, and wherever there is a melon, 



LETTER NO. XXXIH. 253 

it is laid on a little shelf, built up by its side, to grow and 
ripen. Currants are trained up to a stake, by one stalk, to 
the height of four feet before it begins to branch out. The 
body of some of the currant bushes is an inch an a half in 
diameter. Gooseberries are trained in the same way. The 
graperies produce the year round. The conservatory, near 
the house, built of glass, three hundred feet long and seven- 
ty-two feet high, designed and arranged by Paxton, has 
been a wonder, but the glass palace for the World's Fair, 
in process of erection, designed and superintended by the 
same person, will throw this entirely into the shade. I 
have not time even to name the rare productions of all cli- 
mates which are gathered here. The water works are very 
extensive and beautiful. More than six thousand feet of 
piping is laid, of various sizes, to supply the jets. One cu- 
rious looking dead tree particularly attracted our attention. 
It was not very large, and its branches were very peculiar 
— stiff and crooked, not a leaf on them. While gazing at it, 
in wonder, we were surprised by a perfect shower bath 
from this mysterious tree, and we all took to our heels. It 
was in fact only a curious jet, which our guide had slipped 
away to play upon us, and then returned to enjoy our sur- 
prise. In some parts of the premises, every thing that can 
produce the wildest scenery has been brought together and 
huddled into the most elegant and tasteful confusion pos- 
sible. We climbed up by a rugged, winding path to the 
hunting tower, from which the country can be overlooked 
for miles. This was erected, it is said, for the ladies, that 
they might here look down upon and enjoy the diversion of 
stag-hunting, without its perils or its fatigues. 

At 12 o'clock, we, with a hundred or more visitors that 
had collected, were ushered into Chatsworth House, each 
party with a separate guide. We were led through the 
Green Hall, the State Rooms, one hundred and ninety 



254 SIGHTS AND SCENES IN EUROPE, 

feet in length, the Chapel, Library, Sculpture and Painting 
Galleries, &c. Although a vast collection is not found here, 
there are, nevertheless, many productions of the greatest 
artists. And everything is arranged in such admirable taste 
and order, that the finest effect is produced. The mosaic 
floors are of oak, curiously and beautifully inlaid and polish- 
ed. The walls, in one room, are covered with buff leather, 
stamped in figures and embossed in gold. In some they are 
fitted up with Gobelin tapestries, from the cartoons of Ra- 
phael. The Chapel is wainscoated with the finest cedar. 
The ceilings are ornamented with elegant paintings, and as 
everything is fresh and kept in perfect preservation, all ap- 
pears to advantage. 

The tables are exquisite productions of art, and the mir- 
rors, ornaments and curiosities are all of the most splendid 
style. Although the Duke spends but six weeks in the year 
here, one hundred and fifty persons are attached to the esta- 
blishment, (besides those who occupy the cottages) and are 
here the year round. The Duke is not married; it is said 
he would lose his estates should he marry. After spending 
several hours, examining paintings, &c, we resumed our 
rambles in the Park. We explored almost every avenue, 
and startled the deer from every glade. We met the game 
keeper, who, after selecting a choice fawn with his eye, 
picked him off the herd with his rifle ; at which the whole 
flock, nearly one thousand in number, plunged into the 
stream and swam across, sending forth such an unearthly 
yell as I never heard before. 

And now, gentle readers, all, both great and small, hav- 
ing conducted you to the most beautiful place in all my tra- 
vels, taking it altogether; beautiful in natural scenery, and 
the embellishments of taste and art, I most take my leave. 
I could not part from you in a more delightful spot — away 
from the world, its noise, bustle, dust, beggars and troubles; 



LETTER NO. XXX1H. 255 

and though Solomon " in all his glory" has declared, that 
'•the eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with 
hearing," yet, I must beg leave to differ from the wisest 
man that ever lived, and say, that mine is, and I am afraid 
your patience and long suffering with my long " yarns" are 
well nigh exhausted, and so I must say, Farewell, 






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